Civil Liberties Flashcards
1
Q
Where can you find civil liberties?
A
- termed ‘civil’ liberties because they refer to freedoms of citizens within the civic state
- sources: statutes and common law
- human rights derived from international treaties
2
Q
Civil liberties as freedom from the state
A
- we should interfere with others acting on the basis of their own goals, values and purposes only to the extent necessary to protect similar liberties of other people
- Locke: ‘the natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for this rule’
3
Q
Civil liberties as engagement in the state
A
- Ewing and Gearty: ‘the main purpose of civil liberties is to promote political participation and that as such it is a discipline which encourages the development of an active political culture”
4
Q
What are civil liberties?
A
- Liberty as a good in itself: something we ought to strive for whether or not it advances any other purpose
- Liberty as good because of its capacity to advance further goods: Raz - one reason for affording special protection to individual interests is that thereby one also protects a collective good, an aspect of a public culture
5
Q
Human rights approach
A
- Shift from liberties to rights: from liberties to do things which are not against the law, to positive rights belonging to every human being
6
Q
Purpose of HRA
A
Greater judicial protection of fundamental rights = preserving parliamentary sovereignty (final decision)
7
Q
Structure of HRA
A
interpretative power + declaration / duty on public authorities to comply with ECHR
8
Q
Rhetoric of HRA
A
‘Bringing rights home’
