Actions Against The Police Created By Civil Liberties In The Uk

Citizens have rights in the United Kingdom. They also have civil liberties and these two are often considered to be two sides of a single coin. Rights are something demanded by someone, while liberties translate into freedom from having your rights interfered with by someone else. We as citizens have the right to issue complaints against police officers who we feel have violated our civil rights. But whenever we take actions against the police they seem to have the upper hand because laws tend to side with the law enforcers.

Having a long, formative history in the United Kingdom, civil liberties have been defined and changed significantly over the centuries. Going as far back as the Magna Carta of 1215, this landmark in documentation helped to define English legal history as we know it today. Civil liberties developed judicially particularly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries due to two separate revolutions. The nineteenth century saw people from the working class struggle as they gained the right to vote and additionally join trade unions. Personal liberties and suffrage changed in the first World War, followed up by the second World War.

Human rights and civil liberties may be seen as near identical yet human rights have broader meaning. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is a world wide mantra designed to trumpet our civil rights. Police actions can bring about violations of civil liberties as well as human rights when done by ruthless means.

When the police let their constituents down and violate the laws themselves, they can create a distrust and tension that is not easily forgiven - nor is it forgotten. Some of the problems that have been found to exist, and which police have come to be blamed and the public might seek retribution for include:

*Unlawful imprisonment
*Wrongful arrest
*Assault
*Malicious prosecution
*Human rights violations
*Confiscation of property

There are law firms in the UK who specialize in prosecuting police who participate in illegal activities and violate civil rights of citizens. They can offer advice and help with law suits that may be filed against law enforcement officers if it is deemed to be relevant.

Complaints made by citizens need to be investigated to the fullest by police and this means the Independent Police Complaints Commission must do its duty by overseeing any and all complaints as they arise. Since 2006 the commission has accepted the responsibility of investigating complaints made by citizens who feel they need to take some form of actions against the police.

The commission has some investigators who are previous police officers, but the eighteen commissioners themselves can never have worked for any police force or agency. The commissioners must decide guild or innocence based on the facts presented to them for each incident or case. These eighteen commissioners, having been appointed through the authority of the Home Secretary, serve for a five year period. They have guidelines by which they serve and have the burden of responsibility for any and all IPCC investigations. They have the responsibility of holding the public's confidence in cases involving actions against the police.