Human rights refer to those rights which a person possesses and entitled to enforce by virtue of his status as a human being. The concept of basic equality of all people is the foundation of these rights. In the early medieval period, the concept of human rights or any statement of individual or fundamental rights were unknown. The earliest and one of the most significant legal statements which have granted individual rights, particularly freedom from imprisonment without trial, was the Magna Carta, known as "Great Charter" issued by King John in 1215. The Charter achieved its final form 1225 and thus became a permanent component of the legal framework. Magna Carta limited the power of the king and required that there should be government according to the law and not according to the arbitrary wishes of the ruler. In the international scenario, during the mid-nineteenth century, the world has witnessed the development of some humanitarian law, such as the establishment of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863, the Geneva Convention of 1864 and the Hague Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war. The most radical innovation in the field of human rights was the signing of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1950. However, it was only in 1998 that the Convention was incorporated in the United Kingdom law by virtue of the Human Rights Act, 1998.
