6. Rights in the UK Flashcards
4 CL
- right to fair trial
- freedom of speech
- religion
- freedom of association
What are Civil Liberties
Civil liberties are the rights that citizens have in a democracy
in UK, CL are part of the law of land and can be changed by gov
Human rights act 1998
- Incorporated the EC on human rights ECHR 1950 into the UK law
- Citizens can challenge UK law rather than going to ECHR
- Uk courts can issue declaration of incompatibility, which can be put pressure on the gov to back down
- The ECHR has nothing to do with the EU and Brexit will have no effect on HRA and the ECHR
Freedom of Information Act 2000
- introduced to create open gov system
- gives citizens right to know info regarding how and who makes decisions
- allows public to access files from gov body
- however major exceptions if it affects national security
The equality ACT 2010
equality act made it illegal to discriminate in 9 areas
- religion
- gender reassignment
- age
- disability
- belief
- race.
- sexual orientation
- marriage
- pregnancy
2 ways rights are protected in the UK
judicial review
common law
judicial review
is a review of ministers and officials decisions to ensure they are lawful
decisions can be declared unlawful if they are ultra vires (acting beyond power)
common law
refers to rules that have been established through customs
judges have decided- some rules are “commonly held” traditions that they have force of law
statute law takes precedence over law
individuals rights vs collective rights
individual rights:
right to privacy
freedom of expression
right to protest
collective rights:
freedom of press
upholding tolerance
peaceful existence
security of a nation