Bill of Rights

A Bill of Rights is the section of a country's constitution that formally lists

the rights guaranteed to its citizens and lays down the machinery to protect them. The idea has a

long history -- the American Bill of Rights (1791) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man

and of the Citizen (1789) are two of the earliest and most influential examples, both written in

the aftermath of struggles against arbitrary monarchical power.

Two features distinguish a genuine Bill of Rights from a mere list of good intentions. It is legally

enforceable -- a citizen whose rights are violated can approach a court, and the court can order the

violation to be corrected. And it binds the state itself -- the very institution most capable of

violating a person's rights on a large scale is also the one bound by the Bill of Rights to respect …