Rights Flashcards
What are civil liberties?
Rights and liberties to which citizens are entitled
What are the two types of ‘right’ and what is the difference?
Legal rights = those that the law allows eg. right to vote
Moral rights = those that come from common humanity eg. right to life
In most liberal democracies, where can citizen’s civil liberties be found?
In a Bill of Rights which is part of a written constitution and can be protected by judges
How are civil liberties in the UK different to those of other liberal democracies?
There is no written constitution and up until the HRA, there was no statement at all
What 5 ways are civil liberties protected in the UK?
1. By Parliament 2 By judges 3 By the ECHR 4 Pressure groups and the media 5 Public Inquiries
How does parliament protect civil liberties?
MPs prevent laws being passed that restrict civil liberties eg. Race and Religious Hatred Act 2006 was voted against as it was seen as a threat to freedom of expression
MPs can pass laws that enhance civil liberties eg Equality Act 2010
What is the limit to parliaments ability to protect civil liberties?
MPs will have differing views and can cause rebellion
How do judges protect civil liberties?
Judges able to defend civil liberties by upholding the Rule of Law eg. Right to Fair Trial
Judicial review where judges rule whether a public body has acted illegally
How has the passage of the 1998 Human Rights Act affected judges’ ability to protect rights? + how
It has been improved – British people no longer have to go to the European Court Of Human Rights
How does the European Court of Human Rights protect civil liberties?
Described as a ‘guardian of civil liberties’ as it acts as a check on British governments
Eg SAS Gibraltar Shootings
What are the limits to the ECHR ability to protect rights?
ECHR doesn’t have the power to directly strike down UK law eg. The UK didn’t act regarding prisoners’ rights to vote
Very expensive and lengthy process
What are the 3 important Acts of Parliament in relation to civil liberties?
The Human Rights Act 1998
The Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Equality Act 2010
What did the HRA do to protect civil liberties? X4
Enshrined ECHR into UK law
Provided a clear statement of citizen’s civil liberties
Established ‘positive rights’
Allowed judges to issue a ‘declaration of incompatibility’
What are the criticisms of the HRA? x3
Judges cannot strike down law as parliament
Government can “derogate” from HRA in emergencies eg. Blair derogated Article 5 to pass anti-terrorism measures
Unaccountable judges wield lots of power
What did the FOI do? X3
Established a ‘right to know’
Gave the public access to information held by public bodies so long as it didn’t threaten national security
Made government more open eg. 2009 MPs expenses scandal
What did the Equality Act do?
Established equality before the law for all citizens
Discrimination is illegal in public life
What is judicial review?
The power of judges to review the actions of public bodies – an important check on the executive
When can judicial review be used? x3
When there has been an abuse of civil liberties eg. Belmarsh case
When an action is ultra vires (beyond a bodies power) eg. freezing bank of suspect terrorists
When an action has gone against the rule of law
How many judicial review claims in 1980? How many in 2018?
1980 = 600 2018 = 6,000
What is the ‘contract’ between the citizens of a democracy and the state?
In return for rights (that are protected by the state) citizen are under an obligation to fulfil certain civic responsibilities
What are collective rights?
Rights that belong to a particular group eg. gay rights
Give an example of a case where collective rights clashed with individual rights;
Lee v Ashers Baking where a religious bakery in Ireland refused to make a cake saying “Support Gay Marriage”
Name a pressure group that protects civil liberties:
Liberty – set up over 80 years ago
Name three times the government had to restrict freedoms because of perceived threats to national security:
- 2001 Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act – gave the government the power to imprison foreign terrorist suspects indefinitely without trial
- 2006 Terrorism Act – extended the time al terrorists could be held without charge
- 2016 Investigatory Powers Act – authorises retention of personal electronic data for law enforcement purposes
What rulings show that judges to have power over government?
What are liberal critics worried about, regarding the protection of rights?
- The HRA is a simple act of parliament that could be abolished and so should be replaces with a codified constitution containing a bill of rights
- Parliament is sovereign so may use too much power to restrict liberties
- Judges can’t strike down laws
