The Legal Right to Security of Person

Abstract There is no agreed meaning ascribed to the legal right to security of person, even though it is an internationally recognized human right and a term found in legislation and political dialogue around the world. Most jurisdictions have left the courts to interpret the meaning of the right to security of person. In turn, courts have taken remarkably different approaches to determining which interests should be protected by the right to security of person in their jurisdictional context. Chapter 1 analyses the meaning that courts have given to the right as it appears in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the South African Bill of Rights. It is argued that a deeper theoretical analysis is needed to identify the common core of the right.