Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that protect an individual from the state. Civil liberties set limits on the government so that its agents cannot use their power and interfere with the lives of citizens.
Common civil liberties include the rights of people, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and the right to due process, to a trial, to own property, and to privacy.
The formal concept of civil liberties dates back to the English charter the Magna Carta 1215, which was based on pre-existing documents named the English Charter of Liberties, a landmark document in English history.