Liberty launches ‘Know Your Rights’ guide

• Liberty experts produce guide to clear up confusion over lockdown rules
• Guide aims to empower people to uphold their rights during pandemic
• Launch part of Liberty’s new online human rights advice and information hub

Liberty has launched a Know Your Rights coronavirus guide to empower people to uphold their rights during the Government’s coronavirus lockdown.

The guide covers everything from when you can legally leave your home to what the police can do. It has been written by legal experts from Liberty’s Advice and Information service, and is part of a new online Know Your Rights information hub launched by Liberty this week.

Questions answered in the coronavirus guide include:

• Can I drive somewhere to walk my dog or exercise in a park that isn’t close to my home?
• If I get stopped by the police, do I have to answer their questions?
• What do I do if I am unhappy with the way the police have treated me?

The guide will be updated regularly to reflect any changes that happen, and Liberty is working to produce translations in different languages.

Liberty has run an Advice and Information service for more than 40 years, and every year its lawyers give thousands of people legal advice about human rights issues over the phone and in writing.

The Advice and Information service and the Know Your Rights hub both aim to empower people to uphold their rights, as well as those of their friends, families and communities.

During the coronavirus pandemic the public can reach the Advice and Information service by submitting a written query. Liberty is working hard to re-open its advice phone line as soon as possible.

Olivia Percival, Liberty Advice and Information manager, said: “We are facing the biggest restriction of civil liberties in a lifetime and it is more important now than ever that people are empowered to uphold their rights.

“Across the country people have shown they’re willing to change the way they live to protect each other. But confused Government guidance and heavy-handed policing has left people unsure about what is and isn’t allowed – or how to challenge the police when they get it wrong. This is felt most keenly by marginalised communities who are already most at risk of abuse of power, and have been left out of the Government’s response.

“We want to clear up some of this confusion so people know their rights under lockdown and can challenge violations when they happen. In times of crisis organisations like Liberty are essential to ensure those in power are held to account.”