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It is the Human Rights Act 1998 which protects people’s rights to thought, belief and religion in the UK. The Human Rights Act enacted the European Commission on Human Rights(ECHR) which lays out the basic human rights to which everyone is entitled. Some of the rights to which everyone is entitled are absolute, which means that there can be no excuse for derogating from them. These include the right to life (Art 2) and the right to freedom from torture (Art 3). Other rights can be derogated from in particular circumstances; for example Art 8, the right to family and private life, can be derogated from when it is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well being of the country. This could be for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

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The rights to freedom of thought, belief and religion are protected by Article 9: this includes the freedom to change religion or belief and ‘freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance’. Article 9 is a right which a state can derogate from in certain circumstances including in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. The right to freedom of thought, belief and religion can be linked to other rights, such as the right to freedom of association or the right to freedom of expression, both contained within the Human Rights Act.

A recent Court of Appeal case, Ghai v Newcastle City, considered Article 9 ECHR in respect of a Hindu who wanted to have an open air cremation as required by his religion; the council had refused to allow such a cremation as it was not in accordance with the Cremation Act 1902. The defendant argued that the law amounted to an impermissible interference with his right to manifest his religion or belief. The result was that the Court of Appeal concluded that the open air funeral pyre was a matter of tradition not of religious belief, and that a ‘significant number of people would find cremation on open air pyres a matter of offence’. As a result the request was denied and his human right was derogated from.

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