Rights in context Flashcards
Human Rights Act 1998
Incorporated European convention into British law
Freedom of Information Act 2000
Established the right to access information held by public bodies
- MPs expenses scandal leaked as a result
Equality Act 2010
Established that public discrimination is illegal in categories such as gender reassignment, sexual orientation, and pregnancy and maternity
- Allowed parties to create all women shortlists
Does the HRA effectively protect civil liberties in the UK
Flexibility - But can be repealed
Enhanced judicial powers - But not enough
Better than Bill of Rights - There are still pushes for a Bill of rights
How does flexibility of the HRA protect civil liberties
Acts can be created and adapted to changes in society
How does the Terrorism Act 2006 show that flexibility of the HRA is positive
It was created in repose to the 2005 London attack and extended the time for terrorist suspects to be held without charge to 28 days
How has the HRA enhanced judicial powers to better protect civil liberties
Interprets law and can issue Declarations of Incompatibility which have an impact on parliament and legislation
Example of a threat of Declaration of incompatibility having an effect on parliament
R Nicklinson v Ministry of Justice 2015, the court would have issues a DoI if the law of assisted dying hadn’t been debated in the house of commons
How is the HRA a better alternative to a Bill of Rights
It provides adequate protection of rights, and a UK Bill of rights would lead to issues seen in the US such as the right to bear arms
How does the ability to repeal the HRA show that it doesn’t effectively protect civil liberties in the UK
Governments can replace the hard work dome by previous governments
Example of HRA being repealed
2010 coalition overturned the use of identity cards by Brown to ‘reverse the erosion of civil liberties by the Labour Government’
How does the lack of power by judges shows that the HRA does not effectively protect civil liberties
As it is a convention rather than codified then Parliamentary sovereignty still remains
Parliament can still ignore DOIs and governments can still force through acts which challenge civil liberties
How did the conservative government restrict the power of the judiciary
The Criminal Justice Act limited access to judicial review in 2015
How do the pushes for bill of rights show that the HRA does not effectively protect civil liberties
David Cameron wanted to replace it with a Bill of Rights
Many believe that it would give Britain their identity back as a free nation and the lack of a codified constitution means that rights will never be adequately protected
To what extent do judges effectively protect civil liberties
Judges have sufficient power to protect civil liberties under the HRA - But it is still too weak
DOIs threaten parliament enough - But they can be ignored
Judges in the UK are becoming more activist - But clashes between judges still occur
How does judges having sufficient power under the HRA show that judges effectively protect civil liberties
They incorporate rights listed in the European Convention into British law
Example of British judges incorporating ECHR into British law
Senior judges declared that foreign terrorist suspects were being held in Belmarsh Prison in a discriminatory manner according the to ECHR
The government released the detainees as a result
How do DOIs show that judges effectively protect civil liberties
They threaten parliament enough to act on the declaration
Example of parliament amending legislation because of a DOI
R v Secretary of State for International development 2018
SC found that the Civil Partnership Act was incompatibly with article 14 of the ECHR and issued a DOI which led to an amendment in 2019
How have judges become more activist
The movement of the SC away from Parliament has made them an independent body
Not constrained by law lords and can rule on more active matters
Example of judges being activist and protecting civil liberties
The introduction of the Equality Act 2010 means they can rule on all cases of discrimination
How does the weakness of the HRA impact judges effectiveness on protecting civil liberties
The lack of written constitution means they cannot strike down an act of parliament
Criminal justice Act
Limited access to judicial review in 2015
How does that fact that DOIs can be ignored show that judges do not effectively protect civil liberties
Parliament is not obliged to change legislation based on the courts decision
The HRA is uncodified and has no power over sovereign parliament
Example of DOI being ignored
Smith v Scott 2007
SC ruled that the basket ban on prisoner voting went against article 3 of ECHR and parliament did nothing about the declaration
How do clashes between judges show that judges do not effectively protect civil liberties There
There are ideological splits on the SC
Example division on the SC
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission challenged the compatibility of abortion laws with the ECHR in 2018 and the division within the SC meant that they could not rule a DOI
Griffith opinion on SC judges
Believes they are too conservative
Evaluate the view that citizens can no longer feel confident that their rights in the UK are secure and established
Lack of codification - But, HRA is flexible
Judges don’t have enough power - But Judges do help protect civil liberties
But government can restrict civil liberties - Government helps protect rights
How does lack of codification show that citizens can no longer feel confident that their rights in the UK are secure and established
A Bill of Rights would more adequately protect their rights, as the rights laid out in the Era are too vague and don’t protect specific areas of society
How does lack of judicial power show that citizens can no longer feel confident that their rights in the UK are secure and established
HRA is too weak for the judges to enforce rulings and DOIs are frequently ignored (Smith v Scott 2007)
How does government intervention show that citizens can no longer feel confident that their rights in the UK are secure and established
Emergency powers from covid have made the government powers too powerful
Strong majorities mean that governments can dictate civil liberties (identify card example)
HRA is flexible to change
Acts can be created in response to events (Terrorism Act 2006)
How does the judiciary protecting rights show that citizens should feel confident that their rights in the UK are secure and established
Judges are becoming more activist with the introduction of the 2010 Equality Act and help to challenge the government to protect rights (Belmarsh Prison example)
How does the government protecting rights show that citizens should feel confident that their rights in the UK are secure and established
Strong majorities are becoming more rare so are more accountable and the government is improving rights (Equality Act 2010)
MPs are becoming moe active (Rwanda)
Example of MPs being more activist
Rwanda Plan criticism from conservative MPs
