Why Is It Necessary To Know Your Rights As A Citizen?
By Sumona
Have you ever considered how many rights are bestowed upon you as a citizen of your country?
Well, this isn’t something everyone thinks of or is aware of until they need legal redressal. Knowing your rights as a private citizen, employer, employee, and customer are all vital aspects of living to the most total capacity in a free country like the United States.
However, statistics reflect how this information is not widely known despite being free information available to all.
Today, our blog will help you understand your rights as a citizen so that you can stay on the right side of the law, or get the help you need whenever the occasion arises.
Without wasting more time, let’s get started right away.
6 Necessities To Know Your Rights
1. Helps you stay informed:
One of the basic human rights that we all have is the right to information, but so few of us exercise it in the correct way.
Information regarding the latest events and how governance affects your personal lives is essential but often sidetracked by citizens.
For instance, people living in certain areas of the country receive unclean drinking water but never file a complaint thinking it’s not a problem that can be resolved but is tolerated.
However, if you were to be informed that the right to have clean drinking water is a mandatory requirement for every citizen, filing a toxic water lawsuit would become easier. When you’re informed about your rights, you also know how lawyers can help you, which makes receiving redressals more streamlined.
2. Prevents from being taken advantage of:
There are several things that you may be deprived of if you’re not aware of your rights. For starters, it becomes extremely easy for influential parties like employers, corporations, businessmen, and others to take advantage of common citizens.
This holds true especially when your rights to equality and safety are compromised. Labor law is one such area that is heavily influenced by the lack of awareness among contract workers, resulting in inadequate workplace safety policies, unhygienic working conditions, and low workplace injury compensations.
Last but not least, knowing your rights removes the prospect of you being intimidated by a third party.
3. Provides a legal safety net:
In your lifetime, there is always a fair scope of encountering the court of law at least once. Though it depends on which court you go to and for what purpose, walking in without knowing your citizen rights puts you at a disadvantage.
Firstly, if you’re the one suing, knowing your rights can help you reach out to the court for redressal. Alternatively, your knowledge about your rights also helps you be defended better in court if there’s a lawsuit filed against you.
In both scenarios, an understanding of your legal rights and duties creates a safety net for you to receive justice.
4. Indicates when to get legal help:
As mentioned in the third point, most of us will be at court at some point in our lives, be it while filing a lawsuit against someone, or defending ourselves.
Rather than thinking of it would never happen to us, the smart thing to do here is to know what rights we are entitled to should we need to exercise them. This is valid especially when you need to know when it’s time to lawyer up.
So many citizens are not aware of their constitutional right to a legal representative, and end up putting themselves in avoidable situations.
5. Enter into contracts with vigilance:
Contracts and agreements are a regular part of business and life. However, the fine print on a contract may hurt you if you’re not informed. To ensure that your rights are preserved by the contract, you also need information regarding what applies to you.
Since the Contract Act is legally binding, every citizen should know its basics. This gives you the upper hand when you sign a contract so that you know when to rescind or terminate it on the occasion of violations.
6. Informs you about child protection laws:
Today, news regarding child protection is widespread and there are several concerns about their overall safety. While your children are at school or at daycare, we may be constantly worried about how safe they are in the given circumstances.
However, as the levels of child hazards rise, it is also our responsibility to step up and understands the rights given to children so we can educate them better.
Wrapping Up:
As you can see, there are several advantages of learning about your rights and privileges offered legally. Since the resources are aplenty, it also becomes your moral responsibility to educate yourself and your loved ones. We hope this blog was a step toward the direction of becoming an informed citizen! For more, stay tuned to our next editorial.
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