YourAr

ti
cl
eLi
brar
y

Li
bert
y:Defi
nit
ion,Feat
ures,TypesandEssent
ialSafeguar
dsofLi
ber
tyLi
ber
ty:Def
ini
ti
on,
Feat
ures,TypesandEssent i
alSaf
eguar
dsofLibert
y!

Ofallt
her i
ghtswhichareconsideredf
undament al
fort
hedevel opmentofthepersonal
it
yofthe
i
ndivi
dual,t
her i
ghttoli
bert
yorfreedom happenstobemostr espectedandvalued.Inf
act
wi
thoutli
berty,i
.e.wit
houtt
hef r
eedom t
oenj oyone’sr
ight
s,t
her ecanbenor ealri
ghtavai
l
able
t
othepeopl e.Li
berty,assuch,i
sthemostcher i
shedandlovedr i
ghtofthepeople.

I
.Li
ber
ty:Meani
ng:

Theword“ Li
ber
ty”st
andsderi
vedfrom t
heLat
inword‘
Liber
”whi
chmeans‘f
ree’
.Inthi
ssense
l
iber
tymeansf r
eedom f
rom r
estr
aint
sandthefr
eedom t
oactasoneli
kes
.However,inaci
vil
soci
etysuchameaningofLibert
yistakent
obenegati
veandharmf
ul.

Iti
sonlyinajunglethatf
reedom f
rom r
estr
aintsisavai
labl
etoani
mals.Inacivilsoci
etyno
personcanber eal
lypermit
tedtoactwi
thoutrestr
aint
s.Hence,Li
ber
tyistakentomeant he
absenceofnotallrest
rai
ntsbutonl
ythoserestrai
ntswhichar
eheldtobei r
rat
ional.

Li
ber
tyi
susual
l
ydef
inedi
ntwoways:Negat
iveLi
ber
ty&Posi
ti
veLi
ber
ty:

(
A)Negat
iveLi
ber
ty:

Init
snegativesense,Libert
yistakentomeananabs enceofrest
rai
nts.I
tmeanst hefr
eedom t
o
actisanyway.Inthisformliber
tybecomesali
cense.Suchameani ngoflibert
ycanneverbe
acceptedinacivi
lsociety.I
ncontemporar
yti
mes,Negativeconcept
ionofliber
tyst
ands
rej
ected.

(
B)Posi
ti
veLi
ber
ty:

Ini
tsposit
ivesense,Li
bert
yistakentomeanf r
eedom underrat
ionalandlogi
cal
i.
e.rest
raint
s
whicharerati
onalandhavestoodthetestoft
ime.I
tmeansl i
bertyunderther
ati
onaland
necessar
yr est
rai
ntsi
mposedbyl aw.Theserest
rai
ntsareconsi
deredessenti
alf
orensuri
ngt he
enj
oymentofl i
bert
ybyallt
hepeople.Inacivi
lsoci
etyonlyposi
ti
veliber
tycanbeavail
ableto
t
hepeopl
e.

Pos
it
iveLi
ber
tymeanst
woi
mpor
tantt
hings
:

1.Li
bert
yisnott
heabsenceofrest
rai
nts
;iti
sthesubst
it
uti
onofirr
ati
onalr
est
rai
ntsbyrati
onal
ones.Li
ber
tymeansabsenceofonlyi
rr
ati
onalandarbi
tr
aryrest
rai
ntsandnotal
lrest
rai
nts.

2.Li
ber
tymeansequal
andadequat
eoppor
tuni
ti
esf
oral
lt
oenj
oyt
hei
rri
ght
s.

I
I.Li
ber
ty:Def
ini
ti
on:

(
1)“Li
ber
tyi
sthef
reedom ofi
ndi
vi
dual
toexpr
ess
,wi
t
houtext
ernal
hindr
ances
,hi
sper
sonal
i
ty.
”
-
G.D.HCole

(
2)“
Freedom isnottheabsenceofal
lrest
rai
ntsbutr
athert
hesubst
it
uti
onofr
ati
onal
onesf
or
t
hei
rrat
ional
.
”- Mckechni
e

(3)“
Libert
yist
heexist
encesofthoseconditi
onsofsociall
if
ewit
houtwhi
chnoonecani
n
generalbeathi
sbestsel
f.
”“Libert
yistheeagermaintenanceoft
hatat
mospher
einwhi
chmen
havetheopport
uni
ti
estobet heirbest
-sel
ves.
”-Lask
i

Libert
yisthemostessent i
alcondit
ionf
ortheenjoymentofrights.Iti
snottheabsenceof
restr
aint
s.Itistheposi
ti
veconditi
onfort
heenj oymentofri
ghts.Itadmi t
sthepr
esenceofsuch
rati
onalrestr
aintsassat
isf
ythetestofhi
stor
icalexper
ienceandr eason.

I
II
.Feat
ures/
Nat
ureofLi
ber
ty:

(
i)Li
ber
tydoesnotmeant
heabsenceofal
lrest
rai
nts
(
ii
)Li
ber
tyadmi
tst
hepr
esenceofr
ati
onal
rest
rai
ntsandt
heabsenceofi
rr
ati
onal
rest
rai
nts.

(
ii
i)Liber
typost
ulat
estheexi
stenceofsuchcondi
ti
onsascanenabl
ethepeopl
etoenj
oyt
hei
r
r
ightsanddevelopthei
rper
sonali
ti
es.

(
iv)Li
ber
tyi
snotal
icensetodoanyt
hingandeveryt
hing.Itmeanst
hef
reedom t
odoonl
ythose
t
hingswhi
char
econsider
edwort
h-doi
ngorworth-
enjoying.

(
v)Liber
tyi
spossibl
eonlyinaci
vi
lsoci
etyandnoti
nast
ateofnat
ureora‘
stat
eofj
ungl
e’.
St
ateofanarchycanneverbeastat
e,ofLi
bert
y.

(
vi)Li
ber
tyisforal
l.Li
bert
ymeanst
hepr
esenceofadequat
eoppor
tuni
ti
esf
oral
lascanenabl
e
t
hem tousetheirr
ight
s.

(vi
i
)Insoci
etyl
awisanessent
ialcondi
ti
onofli
ber
ty.Lawmai
ntai
nscondi
ti
onswhi
char
e
essent
i
alfort
heenj
oymentofLibert
ybyallt
hepeopleoft
hest
ate.

(vi
i
i)Li
bert
ythemostf
undamental
ofallt
heright
s.I
tist
hecondi
ti
onandt
hemostessent
ial
right
ofthepeopl
e.Li
ber
tyenj
oyspri
ori
tynextonl
ytotheri
ghtt
oli
fe.

I
ncont
emporaryti
mes,t
heposi
ti
vevi
ewofl
ibert
ystandsf
ull
yanduni
ver
sal
l
yrecogni
zedast
he
r
eal
,accept
ed,andreal
l
ypr
oducti
vevi
ewofLiber
ty.

I
V.TypesofLi
ber
ty:

(
1)Nat
ural
Liber
ty:

Tr
adi
ti
onall
ytheconceptofnat
urall
iber
tyhasbeenverypopular.Nat
urall
ibert
yistakento
meantheenjoymentofunr
estr
ainednatur
alfr
eedom.Iti
sjust
if
iedonthegr oundthatsi
nceman
i
sbornfr
ee,heistoenjoyfr
eedom ashewi l
l
s.Allr
est
rai
ntsnegatehi
sf r
eedom.
Thesocialcontr
actuall
i
sts(
Hobbes
,LockeandRousseau)championedthecauseofnatural
l
iber
ty.Rousseaubecamef amousf
orhiswords:“
Manisbornfr
ee,butisi
nchainseverywhere.
”
I
tispopularl
ybelievedt
hatmanhasinher
it
edtheri
ghtt
oli
bert
yfrom nat
ure.Nat
uralr
easonis
t
hebasisofl i
bert
y.

However ,theconceptofnatural
li
bertyi
snowconsi deredtobeani maginar
yone.Ther ecanbe
norealf r
eedom inast at
eofnatureora‘j
unglesociety’
.Unrest
rai
nedfreedom cancreate
anarchy.Itisonlyi
nanor derl
ysociet
ycharact
erisedbyessential
restr
aint
sbasedonl awsand
rul
est hatreall
iber
tycanbepossible.Natur
all
ibertycanleadtoalivi
ngbasedont heevil
pri
ncipleof‘mighti
sright
’orthe‘r
uleofmusclepower .’

(
2)Ci
vi
lLi
ber
ty:

Thel i
bertywhicheachi ndividualenjoysasamemberoft hesoci etyiscal
ledcivi
l l
iber
ty.Iti
s
equallyavail
ablet
oal ltheindi vi
duals.Allenjoyequalf
reedom andr i
ghtsinsociety.Civi
lli
bert
y
i
snotunr est
rai
nedli
ber ty.I
ti senjoyedonl yundersomer estr
icti
ons( LawsandRul es)imposed
byt hestateandsociety.CivilLibertyist
hever yoppositeofNat urall
ibert
y.Wher easNat ural
Libert
ydenouncest hepr esenceofr estr
aintsofanyk i
nd,Ci vi
l Libert
yacceptsthepr esenc eof
somer ationalr
est
raintsimposedbyt heSt at
eandSoci ety.

Fur
ther
,Ci
vi
lLi
ber
tyhast
wof
eat
ures
:

(
i)St
ateguar
ant
eesCi
vi
lLi
ber
ty:

Civi
ll
ibertymeansl i
bertyunderl aw.Lawcr eatesthecondit
ionsnecessar
yfortheenjoymentof
l
iber
ty.However ,itr
efrainsfr
om creati
ngobst acl
esinthewayofenj oymentofli
bertybythe
people.Itprot
ectsli
bertyfrom suchobstacl
esandact i
onsofothermenandor ganisat
ionsas
canli
mi ttheequal l
i
bertyofall.TheLawsofSt at
ei mposessuchreasonabler
estraint
sasare
deemednecessar yfortheenjoymentofl i
bertybythepeople.

(
ii
)Ci
vi
ll
iber
tyal
sost
andsf
ort
hepr
otect
ionofRi
ght
sandFr
eedom f
rom unduei
nter
fer
ences
:
Civi
lli
ber
tyinvol
vestheconceptofli
miti
ngthepossi
bil
i
ti
esforvi
olati
onoftheright
softhe
peoplebythegovernment.Thi
sisensuredbygranti
ngandguar ant
eeingthefundamentalr
ight
s
ofthepeople.I
talsost
andsforprovi
dingconst
it
uti
onalandjudi
cial
protect
iontori
ght
sand
l
ibert
yofthepeople.

(
3)Pol
i
ti
calLi
ber
ty:

Goodandadequateopport
uni
ti
esf
orusingpoli
ti
calr
ight
sbythepeoplearedef
inedaspoli
ti
cal
l
iber
ty.Whent
hepeoplehavethef
reedom ofpart
ici
pati
oni
nthepoli
ti
calpr
ocess,i
tishel
dthat
t
heyenjoypol
i
ti
call
iber
ty.

Poli
ti
calofl
iber
tyinvol
vesthef r
eedom toexer
ciset
her i
ghtt
ovote,r
ightt
ocontestelect
ions
,
ri
ghttoholdpubli
coffi
ce,ri
ghttocri
ti
ci
seandopposet hepoli
ci
esofthegovernment,ri
ghtto
for
m poli
ti
calpar
ti
es,inter
estgroupsandpressuregr
oups,andtheri
ghttochangethe
governmentthr
oughconst i
tut
ionalmeans.

Laskiobser
ves“Pol
it
ical
li
ber
tymeansthepowertobeacti
veintheaf f
air
soft
hestat
e.”Sucha
l
ibert
yispossi
bl
eonlyinademocracy.Thereal
exer
ciseofpol
it
ical
rightsbyt
hepeopleisa
suresignoft
hepresenceofpol
i
ti
call
i
bertyanddemocracy
.

(
4)I
ndi
vi
dualLi
ber
ty/Per
sonalLi
ber
ty:

Individualli
bertymeanst hefreedom t
opur sueone’ sdesi r
esandi nter
est
sasaper son,but
whichdonotcl ashwiththei nter
est
sordesi resofot hers.Thefr
eedom ofspeechand
expr ession,fr
eedom ofr esidence,f
reedom ofmovement ,fr
eedom ofconscience,freedom of
tastesandpur suits,f
reedom tochooseanypr ofessionort r
adeoroccupation,thefreedom to
enjoyt hef r
uit
sofone’ slabour ,t
heri
ghttoper sonal propert
y,t
hef reedom t
opr of
essornott o
professanyr el
igion,andf r
eedom toacceptornott oacceptanyi deology
,allfal
lunderthe
categor yofindividualfr
eedom.However ,allthesef reedomsar etobeexer ci
sedi nawayas
doesnothi ndert heequal f
reedom ofothersaswel lasdoesnotvi olat
epublicorder,heal
thand
mor alit
y.

(
5)Economi
cLi
ber
ty:
Laskidefineseconomiclibert
yasf r
eedom f rom t
hewant softomorrowandavai l
abil
it
yof
adequat eopport
unit
iesforearningtheli
velihood.Itst
andsforfreedom f
rom povert
y,
unempl oymentandt heabili
tytoenjoyatleastthreebasicminimum needs— f ood,clot
hingand
shel
ter.Laskiwri
tes,“EconomicLibertymeanssecur i
tyandoppor t
uni
tytofi
ndr easonable
si
gnif
icanceintheear ni
ngofone’ sdail
ybr ead”.

Economi cLiber
tycanbeenjoyedonlywhenthereisfreedom fr
om hunger
,starvation,
desti
tut
ionandunempl oyment
.Posit
ivel
y,i
tmeanst heavail
abil
it
yoftheri
ghttowor kand
adequateopportuni
ti
esforear
ningonesli
veli
hood.Wi t
houtfai
reconomicli
berty,polit
ical
li
ber
ty
becomesmeani ngl
ess.Whenthepeoplearenotfreefrom t
hefearofhunger,starvati
onand
desti
tut
iontheycanneverthi
nkofenjoyi
ngtheirr
ightsandfreedoms.

Thegr antofeconomicliber
tytothepeopl
edemandst
hegr antofri
ghttowork,ri
ghtt
o
reasonablewages ,adequateopport
uni
ti
esforl
i
vel
i
hood,r
ighttorestandlei
sure,andri
ghtt
o
economi csecuri
tyintheoldage.

(
6)Nat
ional
Liber
ty:

Nat
ionall
i
ber
tyi
sanot
hernamef
ori
ndependenceoft
henat
ion.

I
tmeanscompl
etef
reedom oft
hepeopl
eofeachst
ate:

(
i)Tohaveaconst
it
uti
onoft
hei
rown,

(
ii
)Tof
reel
yor
gani
set
hei
rowngover
nment
,

(
ii
i
)Tof
reel
yadoptt
hei
rpol
i
ciesandpr
ogr
ammes
,

(
iv)Topur
suei
ndependencei
nrel
ati
onswi
thal
lcount
ri
esoft
hewor
ld,and
(
v)Fr
eedom f
rom ext
ernal
cont
rol
.

(
7)Rel
i
giousLi
ber
ty:

Itmeanst hefreedom toprofessornottoprof

essanyreli
gi
on.Itmeansthefreedom off
ait
hand
wor shi
pandnon- int
erventi
onofStateinrel
igi
ousaff
air
softhepeople.I
talsomeansequal
statusofallr
eli
gionstofreel
ycarryoutthei
racti
vi
ti
esinsoci
ety
.Seculari
sm demandssucha
reli
giousf
reedom.

(
8)Mor
alLi
ber
ty:

Itmeanst
hefr
eedom t
oactaccordi
ngtoone’
sconsci
ence.I
tstandsf
ortheli
bert
ytowor
kfor
secur
ingmor
alsel
f-
per
fect
ion.Fr
eedom t
opursuemoralval
uesismoral
freedom.

Thus,whenonedemandst
her
ightt
oli
ber
tyoner
eal
l
ydemandsl
i
ber
tyi
nal
lt
hesef
orms.

V.SomeEssent
ialSaf
eguar
dsofLi
ber
ty:

1.Lovef
orLi
ber
ty:

Onlywhenpeopl
earestronglyi
nlovewi
tht
heirli
bert
y,t
hatl
iber
tycanber
eall
ysafeguar
ded.
Li
bert
yneedscont
inuousattempt
sonthepartofthepeopl
etodefendt
hei
rli
ber
ty.

2.Et
ernalVi
gi
lance:

Thecommitmentofthepeopletodef
endthei
rli
bert
yandtheirful
lal
ert
nessagai
nstany
encr
oachmentofthei
rli
bert
yisthesecondmostimpor
tantsafeguar
dofli
ber
ty.“
Eter
nal
vi
gil
ancei
sthepri
ceofliber
ty.
”
3.Gr
antofEqual
Right
stoAl
l
:

Forsafeguar
dingLiber
ty,i
tisessent
ial
thatthereshouldbenocl
assofpri
vi
legedpersonsi
n
soci
ety.Li
bert
ycanexistonlywhenequal r
ightsaregrant
edandguar
anteedtoallt
hepeople
wit
houtanydiscri
minat
ion.

Grantofspecialpr
ivil
egesandri
ght
stoanyclassi
salwaysagai
nstt
hespir
itofl
i
berty.However,
grantofsomespeci alpr
ivi
l
egest
othedepri
vedsecti
onsofsoci
ety(
Prot
ect
iveDiscr
iminat
ion)i
s
deemedj ustandessential
.

4.Democr
ati
cSyst
em:

Establi
shmentofademocrati
csyst em i
sanessentialsafeguardofliber
ty.Bot
hliber
tyand
democr acyar
esupplementaryt
oeachot her
.Wecannotconcei veofademocr acywithoutt
he
presenceofcivi
l
,economic
,poli
ticalandindivi
dual
liber
ty.Likewise,int
heabsenceoft heri
ght
tofreedom t
herecanbenor ealdemocracy .

5.TheRi
ght
sofoneshoul
dnotbedependentupont
hewi
l
lofot
her
s:

Laskisuggest
sthatt
hest
atemustensur
ethatr
ight
sandfr
eedomsofsomepeopleshoul
dnot
bedependentuponthewil
landhappi
nessofot
hers.Ther
uler
sandr
uledshoul
dbothbeunder
therul
eoflaw.

6.Fai
rGover
nment
alAct
ion:

Forsafeguardi
ngLi ber
ty,i
tisessent
ial
thatt
hegover
nmentshoul
dexerci
seunbiasedand
i
mpar t
ialcontr
olovereverysecti
onofsociet
y.I
tmustact
sasaresponsi
blet
ransparentand
accountablegovernment.
7.Pr
otect
ionofFundament
alRi
ght
s:

Oneofthekeymethodsofsafeguar
dingl
ibert
yistoi
ncor
porat
eacharteroff
undament
alri
ght
s
andfr
eedomsint
heconsti
tuti
onoftheState.Alongwi
thi
t,j
udi
cial
prot
ecti
onshoul
dbegivent
o
ri
ght
s.

8.I
ndependenceofJudi
ci
ary
:

Judi
ci
aryshouldbeassi
gnedt
her esponsi
bil
i
tyt
opr
otectal
lri
ght
sandf
reedomsofthepeopl
e.
Fordi
schargi
ngsuchanimpor
tantfunct
ion,t
hej
udi
ci
arymustbemadeindependentandf
ull
y
empowered.

9.Separ
ati
onofPower
s:

Separ
ati
onofpowersshoul
dbes ecuredbet
weenthel egi
sl
atur
eandexecut
ive.Judi
ci
ary
shoul
dbetot
all
yseparatef
rom t
hese.Anyconcent
rat
ionorcombinat
ionoft
hesepowerscan
bedanger
ousforLi
berty

10.Decent
ral
i
sat
ionofPower
s:

Forsafeguardi
ngl
iber
tyagainstpossi
bledi
ctat
orship/author
it
arianism,iti
sessent ial
that
decent
rali
sati
onofpowersshouldbeaf f
ect
ed.Thepoweroft hegover nment
,par t
icul
arl
yit
s
execut
ivebranchshoul
dbedi str
ibut
edamonganumberofor gani sat
ionsandt heseshouldbe
l
ocatedatallthet
hreelevel
sofgovernment-
local,provi
ncial
/regionalandnational.

11.Rul
eofLaw:

Allt
hepeopleshoul
dbeundert
hesamel
awsandboundbysamet
ypesofobl
i
gat
ions
.Noone
shouldbeabovelaw.
13.Economi
cEqual
i
ty:

Equi
tableandfai
rerdi
str
ibuti
onofinc
ome,weal
thandresources,andadequateoppor
tuni
ti
es
f
orli
vely-
hoodareessential
safeguar
dsofLi
ber
ty.Wi
thouteconomicequali
ty
,ther
ecanbeno
r
ealenjoymentofli
ber
ty.

14.Wel
lOr
gani
sedI
nter
estGr
oupsandNon-
gover
nmentOr
gani
sat
ions
:

Onever yessent
ialsaf
eguardforLi
bert
yi st
hepr esenceofwel l
-or
ganisedi
nter
estgroupsand
non-gover
nmentalorgani
sati
onsorvoluntar
ysoci alser
viceorgani
sat
ionsi.
e.Civi
lSociet
y.Such
organi
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