Abstract
The nature of international human rights law is such that, other than in the case of a limited number of absolute rights, the guarantee of rights and freedoms incorporates a level of flexibility. This allows States to give effect to those rights and freedoms, while at the same time pursue important democratic objectives designed to protect society (such as national security) and to maintain a balance between conflicting rights (such as freedom of expression, balanced against privacy or the right to a fair hearing). In the context of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),1 and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to which the United Kingdom is also party,2 this accommodation is effected through two means. Limitations are permitted by virtue of the particular expression of the right or freedom within the ICCPR and ECHR. There is also the capacity, under article 4 of the ICCPR or article 15 of the ECHR, to temporarily suspend the application of certain rights during a state of emergency which threatens the life of a nation.
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