rights

Question 1

what are rights?

Answer 1

liberties that all people are automatically entitled to
absolute
universal
fundamental

Question 2

what is the main protection citizens have from government intrusion?

Answer 2

individual rights/ civil liberties

Question 3

how were rights characterised before the HRA?

Answer 3

in a negative way - people had right to do anything as long as it wasn’t expressly forbidden by the law

Question 4

what are positive rights?

Answer 4

clearly given to a citizen, usually in form of constitutional protection

Question 5

what are negative rights?

Answer 5

not explicitly set out, only exist because of absence of any law banning them

Question 6

when was the Magna Carta signed? what did it do?

Answer 6

1215
restrictions on monarch to prevent abuse of power

Question 7

when was the Bill of Rights? what did it do?

Answer 7

1689
greater limits on power of monarchy
set out rights of parliament e.g free elections, parliamentary free speech

Question 8

when was the European Convention of Human Rights?
What did it do?

Answer 8

1953
gov actions had to comply with ECHR, actions only be challenged in European Court of human rights

Question 9

when was the Data Protection Act? what did it do?

Answer 9

1984
protections surrounding personal info held by public institutions

Question 10

when was the Human Rights act? what did it do?

Answer 10

1998
codified ECHR into British law, citizens access rights protections through UK legal system

Question 11

when was the Freedom of Info act? what did it do?

Answer 11

2000
political transparency, citizens access to info held about them

Question 12

when was the equality act? what did it do?

Answer 12

2010
consolidated + codified all anti-discriminatory measures into 1 document

Question 13

does the Human Rights Act effectively protect rights in the UK? YES ARGUMENTS

Answer 13

-rights enshrined in statute law
-legislation has to comply with HRA
- citizens access rights protections through UK courts

Question 14

does the HRA effectively protect rights in the UK? NO ARGUMENTS

Answer 14

-act is not entrenched, can be replaced
-act cannot overturn primary legislation
- can be set aside by gov under special circumstances

Question 15

what are civic responsibilities?

Answer 15

duties which citizens are expected to perform or abide by in return for rights and liberties

Question 16

what are examples of civic responsibilities?

Answer 16

-respect and obey law
-pay taxes
-do not harm others
-respect for parliament + gov institutions
-vote
-serve on jury

Question 17

what are the arguments in favour of individual rights?

Answer 17

ensures protection from gov abuse
leads to civil responsibilities
necessary for free society

Question 18

what are the arguments against individual rights?

Answer 18

come at expense of wider society
hinder effective operation of gov

Question 19

why has there been a growing number of conflicts between the governments and judiciary?

Answer 19

-HRA gave judges more power to challenge gov
-ordinary people use judicial system to challenge gov
-threat of terrorism, gov measures conflict with individual rights
-ministers attempting to expand powers

Question 20

what 5 key areas have seen conflicts between the judiciary and gov over rights protection?

Answer 20

anti-terrorism
deportation
detention
free speech + right to protest
anti-social behaviour

Question 21

what are the strengths of the judiciary defending rights?

Answer 21

• use rule of law, HRA + judicial review to ensure rights protected
  -independent of other branches of system, defend rights based on law not political pressure
  -judges neutral - protect rights without discrimination

Question 22

what are the weaknesses of the judiciary defending rights?

Answer 22

-judges undemocratic + unaccountable
-played role in creation of legislation, less likely to be truly neutral/independent
-cannot strike down primary legislation, sometimes powerless
-unrepresentative, narrow background

Question 23

what are the strengths of parliament defending rights?

Answer 23

-holds sovereignty, cam determine rights + if they should be enforced
-more representative
-introduced and passed HR acts,has promoted + defended rights
- MPs represent constituents rights
-democratically elected, accountable for defence of human rights

Question 24

what are the weaknesses of parliament defending human rights?

Answer 24

-short term political considerations more important
-suspend HRA to achieve goals
-dominated by governing party, few checks on gov
-Lords undermines democratic nature
-MPs reluctant to champion rights if it benefits unpopular element

Question 25

how do pressure groups defend human rights?

Answer 25

raise awareness of threats to rights, promote application of rights + put pressure on gov to ensure rights protected