We know that liberty is indispensable for the development of personality, for good government and for the progress of the nation in all Walks of life. The question now is: what are the devices and means by Which it can be safeguarded and the individual can be secured in the enjoyment of the rights which alone make him free? They are as follows:
Law:
Law is an important condition of liberty. It defines and protects rights and freedoms of the citizens. Montesquieu has Correctly shown that “it is principally by the nature and proportion of punishments imposed by law that liberty is established or destroyed.”
Independence of Judiciary:
The judges protect the enjoyment of liberty and rights of the citizens not only against the encroachment by other citizens but also against the government. But they can perform this important function properly when they are not restricted by the executive or the legislature in the discharge of their duties. This is possible only when they are independent of them, that is, when their tenure of office, promotion, salaries, etc., are not dependent upon the favours of the ministers or the legislature.
Democracy:
Democratic form of government assures greater liberty to the individual, because under it the rights of the citizens cannot be easily disregarded. In a democracy, political power rests with the people. The rulers are their nominees, and therefore, cannot deprive them of the liberty. There is, however, one danger to liberty under democracy, viz., tyranny by the majority.
Fundamental Rights:
In all good constitutions, some- basic rights of the citizens are declared by the constitutions as sacred and inviolable so that they cannot be denied to them and are available even against the government. They are called Fundamental Rights. They are a check upon the tyrannical tendencies of the legislative majorities, which in democracies sometimes tend to deprive the citizens of their rights and liberty.
Local self-governing institutions:
In a State where local self- governing institutions work properly, the liberty of the people is more secure. Local self government is called the primary school of democracy. It trains the people in the art of self government and inculcates in them the habits of initiative, self reliance, and imparts to them the knowledge of conducting political business and bodies. For example, in England the local self government bodies are so developed that they have properly safeguarded the freedom of the people.
Rule of Law:
The rule of law means the supremacy of law, equality before the law and sameness of law for all persons. In other words, it means that no person is punished or deprived of his liberty unless he has violated a law, as shown before a court. But if a person has violated a law, he is to be tried in the ordinary courts and under the same body of laws, whether he is an ordinary citizen or an official.
Economic equality:
Liberty can best be enjoyed in a State where there is a fair degree of economic equality, that is, where there is no great inequality of wealth. “Liberty would be hollow without some measure of equality and equality would be meaningless without liberty.”
Eternal vigilance:
In the last resort, the best safeguard of liberty is the spirit of the people and their love for liberty. No political, juridical or constitutional devices can make a people free unless they themselves do not want to remain free. They should not only love freedom hut be ever ready to resist and crush all attempts to make them feel ‘not free’. “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women”. Writes judge Learned Hand, “when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it”. It has been rightly said that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”. The citizens must be always alert. They should not meekly submit to unreasonable interference in – their rights. Such habits as indolence, indifference to public affairs, lack of interest in what the government does, selfishness, lack of civic sense, passive obedience, etc., weaken the people’s will for freedom and thus destroy liberty.