AbstractThis article explains and critiques the protection of love within judgments concerning relationships under the Human Rights Act 1998. Using theory of emotion to conduct doctrinal analysis of the protection of love within international human rights laws and under the Human Rights Act 1998, it reveals a shift in the conception of love underlying the domestic judicial application of huamn rights. Whereas previously the law was underpinned by values of duty and property, judgments concerning relationships now protect the capacity of individuals to choose how to live. However, the protection of this modern conception of love is limited by judicial deference, allowing the values underpinning the historical conception of love to continue to influence the law.