1.4 - Rights in context

Question 1

Major milestones in the development of rights - The Magna Carta - When and what it did

Answer 1

Signed in 1215 - limited the power of the monarchy and ensured protections against arbitrary rule - included the right to trial by jury - ruled that the monarch could only impose taxes with the consent of the people

Question 2

Major milestones in the development of rights - 1689 Bill of Rights - What it did (3)

Answer 2

• Designed to protect the people of England from military dictatorship
• Ensured the monarch could not take England into a foreign war without Parliament’s agreement
• Ensured that the people were free from ‘cruel and unusual punishment’

Question 3

Major milestones in the development of rights - 1998 Human Rights Act - What it did (5)

Answer 3

• HRA brought the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into effect in British law
• Traditionally, the UK relied on a series of negative rights – people were allowed to do anything as long as it did not break the law
• With the introduction of the HRA coming into effect in 2000, these negative rights were replaced with positive rights that had to be protected and respected by the law
• This gave the courts an important means of protecting the rights of citizens and the ability to act as a check of the gov
• This is arguably the most significant development of rights in UK history
• The HRA establishes a wide range of rights that is legally binding on all public bodies except parliament (though it is politically binding on parliament as it will rarely ignore the HRA) – it is also enforced by all courts in the UK so that all laws passed must conform to its requirements

Question 4

Major milestones in the development of rights - 2010 Equality Act - Background and what it did (3)

Answer 4

• Previously, Acts such as the 1965 Race Relations Act and the 1970 Equal Pay Act, whilst being important, failed to achieve full equality
• This led to the passing of the 2010 Equality Act which requires that all legislation and decision making by the gov at any level must take into account formal equality (legally established equality) for different sections of society
• The Act basically outlaws discrimination against any group

Question 5

Strengths of rights protection in the UK (4)

Answer 5

• Strong common law tradition of rights protection
• UK is subject to the ECHR
• Judiciary has a reputation for being independent and upholding the rule of law even when doing so goes against expressed wishes of gov and Parliament
• Principle of equal rights is clearly established

Question 6

Weaknesses of rights protection in the UK? (4)

Answer 6

• Common law can be vague and disputed – it can also be set aside by parliamentary statutes
• Parliament remains sovereign and can ignore the ECHR or even repeal it (as threatened by recent Con ministers)
• Increasing pressure on gob due to international terrorism to curtail certain rights in the interest of international security EG rights to privacy, association and expression and freedom from imprisonment without trial
• What equality means can be subject to interpretation and see some groups coming into conflict over the enforcement of their rights EG religious groups and LGBTQ+ groups

Question 7

The work of civil liberties pressure groups - Liberty - Founding and objectives (2)

Answer 7

• Founded in 1934 with the aim of challenging gov measures to restrict freedoms in the UK and combat the rising threat of facism
• Objectives are to protect and uphold civil rights and liberties across the UK and to develop a wider ‘rights culture’ across society

Question 8

The work of civil liberties pressure groups - Liberty - Methods (6)

Answer 8

• Researches rights abuses and publicise them through media campaigns
• Utilises mainstream and social media to spread awareness and develop support
• Supports legal challenges against rights abuses
• Provides legal advice for cases of discrimination against gay, women’s and disability rights
• Works with gov to ensure legislation is compatible with the HRA and gives it advice
• Organises petitions, pledges and protests to raise awareness and demonstrate public support for their causes

Question 9

The work of civil liberties pressure groups - Liberty - Successes (2)

Answer 9

• Aug 2020 - Liberty won a Court of Appeal ruling against the legal framework used by South Wales Police when using facial recognition technology
• 2017 - Liberty brought a successful legal challenge to the SC against a loophole in the Equality Act which had allowed employers not to provide equal spousal provisions for same sex couples – the SC ruled the loophole was unlawful under EU law

Question 10

The work of civil liberties pressure groups - Liberty - Failures (2)

Answer 10

• Liberty has failed, so far, in its attempts to ban the use of facial recognition technology across the UK, which is still being used in many security organisations including the MET
• Despite organising lockdown protests in 2020 and 2021 the gov continued to impose lockdown restrictions during the pandemic in the name of public health

Question 11

The work of civil liberties pressure groups - Amnesty International - Founding and objectives (3)

Answer 11

• Founded in London in 1961
• Amnesty international operates as a global campaign group or an INGO that aims to protest people where they believe justice, freedom, truth, and liberty have been denied
• In addition to exposing and ending abuses, they aim to educate society and mobilise the public to create a safer society

Question 12

The work of civil liberties pressure groups - Amnesty International - Methods (6)

Answer 12

• Letter writing campaigns where branches write letters to ‘at risk individuals’ to show support or to gov to persuade them to take action
• Email and twitter EG #FreeNazanin movement on Twitter to pressure the Iranian gov into releasing British-Iranian Nazain Zaghari-Ratcliffe
• Give advice and produce letters and emails for people to fill in themselves to add their voice
• Organise petitions, public demonstrations, and vigils to raise awareness and put pressure on govs
• Carry out extensive research and publicise reports to highlight issues and educate the public and public officials
• Perhaps their most important method is coordinating their 7 million members to ensure their campaigns are focused and targeted to exert more pressure

Question 13

The work of civil liberties pressure groups - Amnesty International - Successes (2)

Answer 13

• The campaign ‘Write for Rights’ has seen much success as people have been released from prison or had their rights restored after pressure from Amnesty – EG Magai Matiop Ngong’s death sentence being commuted in South Sudan in July 2020
• In 2020 due to contributions from Amnesty, 8000 prisoners were released from Myanmar, India decriminalised same sex marriages, and the government of Malaysia and the US State of Washington announced plans to abolish the death penalty

Question 14

The work of civil liberties pressure groups - Amnesty International - Failures (4)

Answer 14

• Despite arranging 38,000 members in an online actions and repeated calls for the international community to do something, China continues to detain Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim groups living in Chinese territory
• Everything about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been heavily criticised by Amnesty yet it is still going on
• Amnesty has recieved criticism for high salaries and excessive pay for top officials on its board – EG former Secretary General Irene Khan receiving a pay-out of £530,000 following her resignation despite only being on a salary of £130,000
• Following two suicides from Amnesty employees in 2018, both citing work-related issues, a 2019 report revealed that Amnesty had a toxic workplace culture with racism, sexism, bullying, and harassment – by Oct 2019, 5 of 7 board members had resigned with ‘generous’ redundancy packages, further undermining the integrity of the organisation