Rights Flashcards
Abu Qatada deportation case
Radical Muslim cleric living in London since the 90s made speeches justifying the use of violence to sup the Islamic cause & had served time in the British jails
Security services regarded him as a threat & ministers wanted to deport him to. Jordan where he was wanted for trail
Legal advisors able to fight deportation for 8 years- Eve found during torture… against HRA
2013 UK sound T w/ Jordan pledging that such ev wld not be used… flown back to face trail… cleared
Br still see him as threat
Magna Carta
1215
Limit royal power, many clauses now outdated, foundations of rights of citizens
No free man shall be seized or imprisoned or stipped of rights or possessions or outlawed + exiled
regarded as est the right to trial by jury and to ‘habeas corpus’
ECHR
1950- by council of Europe… UK one of the signatories
v sim to UNDHR. set up in strasbourg to hear cases where peoples rights had been infringed in their own countries
HRA
1998- passed by new lab gov, incorp the convention into UK law
Rights incl; right to life, prohibition of torture + fair trial
ECHR enshrined cld defend in UK courts
Equality act
2010
brought together prev leg which sought to outlaw discrimination + unfair treatment, such as 1970 equal pay act
Identified 9 protected characteristics
Since the HRA the UK has…
developed a ‘rights- based culture’. All new leg must be compliant w/ the act… can decl earlier acts incompatible.. can’t legally force parl bc parl sov
incr judicial review 4240 cases in 2000… 15600 in 2013
suc challenges incl- high crt ruling that retired gurkha soldiers shld be allowed to settle in the UK, and that govt had not consulted fairly on compensation for those affected by planned high-speed rail link
What have judges been accused of?
effectively creating a privacy law through the way they interp the HRA, priority of right to privacy over right to freedom of expression
Max Mosley case
what can lead to conflicts between pressure groups and individuals
lack of clarity
camp for freedom of info- worked to bring ab freedom of info act (2000) gives pub the right to access data held by pub authorities. 2006-7 group opposed an attempt to exclude parl from the scope of act… passed in commons, failed in lords
Most emotive area of rights…
where an indiv comes in conflict w/ priorities of gov is that of counter terrorism. After WoT- gov lim civ liberties in the interests of the wider community.
Detaining terror suspects w/out trial on the grounds that nat sec existed . 2004, law lords ruled the indefinite detention of for nats on grounds of terrorism was discriminatory
gov passed a new law to intro a syst of control orders that enabled suspects to be closely monitore, a req to report to the police + removal of phones + internet
restrictive measures on rights
2005 Bl’s attempt to extend time susp can be held b4 being charged 14 days to 90 days. failed in commons
public willing to sacrifice some liberties at time of concern. govt place safety of soc over prot of indiv rights. explains why liberty has limited suc. eg snoopers charter 2016
howard league of penal reform
struggled to persuade gov to implement bc not pop issue
wins minor issues 2014 high court ruling that obliged the gov to drop its ban on prisoners families sending books to them
sec a reduction of the size of rison pop = less successful
review 2016 no public service in such disarray as prisons- govt unlikely to side w/ minorty groups
DC ‘physically sick’ prisoners getting vote
