“Civil
rights refers to two related but different terms. In civil law
jurisdictions, a civil right is a right or power which can be exercised
under civil law, which includes things such as the ability to contract.
In civil law jurisdictions, lawsuits between private parties for things
such as breach of contract or a tort are usually expressed in terms of
infringement of a civil right. For example, Article 2 of the Contract
Law of the People's Republic of China defines a contract as "an
agreement establishing, modifying and terminating the civil rights and
obligations between subjects of equal footing".
In common law jurisdiction, the term civil right is distinguished from
"human rights" or "natural rights". Civil rights are rights that are
bestowed by nations on those within their territorial boundaries, while
natural or human rights are rights that many scholars claim that
individuals have by nature of being born. For example, the philosopher
John Locke (1632–1704) argued that the natural rights of life, liberty
and property should be converted into civil rights and protected by the
sovereign state as an aspect of the social contract. Others have argued
that people acquire rights as an inalienable gift from a deity (such as
God) or at a time of nature before governments were formed
“Civil liberties are freedoms that protect the individual from
government to a certain extent. Civil liberties set limits for
government so that it cannot abuse its power and interfere with the
lives of its citizens.”
“Common civil liberties include freedom of association, freedom of
assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and additionally,
the right to due process, to fair trial, to own property and to privacy.
The formal concept of civil liberties dates back to the Magna Carta of 1215 which in turn was based on pre-existing documents.”
