Human Dignity in Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Abstract

This chapter challenges the conventional narrative that dignity is not an important or pervasive feature of the law of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It begins by locating human dignity in the case law on Article 3 and Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998 in order to explore the meaning that human dignity has been given by judges. Whilst accepting that no singular definition has been constructed around a theoretical premise, this chapter argues that dignity is related to the idea of the equal worth of each human being who is due respect as an integrated, multidimensional whole. It then proceeds to map the uses of human dignity in the law of Great Britain and Northern Ireland across a wide range of legal fields and in relation to adjudication, legislation, and regulation. In doing so, this chapter provides the most detailed and systematic account of the uses of human dignity in the law of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It argues that both the wide reach of dignity and the key role it plays in many hard cases make it a core value of the law of the United Kingdom.