Human Rights Flashcards
What are human rights?
The idea of human rights means that human beings have rights merely by virtue of being human: no additional test need be met.
Which two revolutions led to structures of rights?
French and American revolution ( Declaration of Independence (1776))
What constitutional document was the first to provide protection for human rights?
US Constitutional protection for human rights
Why was the United Nations founded?
founded by the victors of WWII to provide a mechanism for the resolution of international disputes
Is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) law?
No it is a resolution of the General assembly of the UN and not law.
What are the functions of the Council of Europe?
- Acting as a political anchor and human rights watchdog for Europe’s post-communist democracies;
- Assisting the countries of central and eastern Europe in carrying out and consolidating political, legal, and constitutional reform in parallel with economic reform;
- Providing know-how in areas such as human rights, local democracy, education, culture, and the environment.
What is a monist legal system?
- systems that treat all forms of law as belonging to a single, binding legal system. That is, they treat international law as binding on their domestic legal systems, without any further enactment at the domestic level.
- Where the two forms of law clash, the monist system treats the international law rule as superior and overrides the domestic rule.
- The vast majority of European legal systems are monist.
What is a dualist legal system?
- treating ‘two’ legal orders as wholly separate.
- The UK state may be bound by international law, and the UK government may be bound too in terms of its dealings with other states and governments, but the court system of the UK is not bound in the same way.
- This means that international law can only be applicable in the UK in two distinct circumstances:
- Where the UK itself is a party to proceedings before an international court, to which jurisdiction it has agreed to submit (e.g. the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court)
- Where the UK has incorporated international legal rules into its domestic legal system through an enabling act of Parliament.
- The UK system is dualist
What is the principle source of Human Rights in the UK and what incorporated it into UK domestic law?
European Convention on Human Rights 1953 (ECHR) incorporated through the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA)
Why was the ECHR created?
It was created after WWII to prevent the atrocities which occurred in Europe from happening again
What are the categories of rights under the ECHR? Name some examples of each
Absolute rights (rights which cannot be lawfully interfered with by the state)
- freedom from torture
- prohibition of slavery and forced labour
Limited rights (rights which can in some circumstances be lawfully interfered with)
- right to life
- right to liberty
Qualified rights (rights which can be lawfully interfered with provided certain legal tests are met)
- right to freedom of association and assembly
- right to private and family life
- right to freedom of expression & info
How can the state interfere legitimately with a qualified convention right?
All three below apply:
○ The interference was prescribed by, or in accordance with, the law.
○ The interference was in pursuit of a legitimate aim.
○ The interference was necessary in a democratic society.
Who are the possible defendants under the HRA?
- Core public authorities (e.g. government departments and local government)
- A body or person carrying out functions of a public nature (with the exception of Parliament)
- Court or tribunal
Does the HRA have a horizontal effect?
The HRA itself does not create a cause of action between individuals
However, they are applicable in disputes between individuals and non-gov bodies (Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers)
