Politics Edexcel paper 1 alevel

'Rights' and Civil Liberties - ... Rights are well protected in the UK? - 1- British judicary is independent and neutral (Constitutional Reform Act 2005, removed entangled powers of legis, exec and jud) 2- Statute Law to protect rights (Magna Carta 1215, limited power of monarch and ensured number of rights to people/HRA 1998, Right to Life A1, Right to respect of privacy A7/Equality Act 2010, protected characteristics) 3- Subject to International agreements (was in ECHR, Abu Qatada case where ECHR law overturned the deportation back to Jordan in fear of torture, British gov reacted/UN international treaties, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Convention against Torture, UN Convention on the rights of the disabled) Rights are not well protected in the UK? - 1- Britain can suffer from an elective dictatorship where infringements on rights can be imposed (when gov has large majority, easy to pass statute laws due to less scrutiny from HoC so could infringe rights, e.g. Elections Act (2022) people who most affected are those from poorer backgrounds, unlikely to vote for the Conservatives anyway, seen to be an attempt to limit civil liberty - the right to vote and choose your government.) 2- Common Law can be overridden by Statute Law ( Coronavirus Act (2020) put limits on most basic civil liberties e.g. right to freedom of movement) 3- May prioritise collective rights over individual rights ( Use of Facial Recognition, can detect people in crowd who are wanted by police for at venues e.g. football stadiums, August 2020 Liberty won appeal ruling against the way that South Wales Police were using facial recognition. Liberty Pressure Group - -Peaceful, law-abiding group -Bring legal challenges against the government when feel that civil liberties have been infringed -Seek to work with the government proactively to avoid civil liberties being infringed -Use of petitions to demonstrate the strength of public support for the issues it is campaigning on -Iraqi Detainees in the Gulf War - first Gulf War, campaigned for the release of 100 Iraq nationals who were detained in Britain without charge. -Equal Pensions for Same-Sex Couples - In 2017 Liberty dealt with a loophole in the Equality Act which allowed same-sex couples to be exempted from pension privileges, in a legal case led by Liberty, the Supreme Court found that this was unlawful. Howard League for Penal Reform - -Does detailed research into the impact of government policy -Holds meetings with the government in power -Capital Punishment - played leading role in campaigning for the end of capital punishment in the UK, ended in 1969 -Probation Service - campaigned for the foundation of a national Probation Service. This was founded in 2001 Conflicts between Individual and Collective rights - Indiv- Freedom of expression Coll- Rights of religious groups not to have their beliefs satirised or questioned Indiv- Right to privacy Coll- Right of community to be protected from terrorism by security listening to communications Indiv- Right to freedom of press Coll- Right to freedom of privacy, e.g. celebrities, 2012, topless photographs of the Kate Middleton appeared on the front cover of a French magazine, taken by long distance camera in private villa Indiv- Right to demonstrate in public places and cause disruption Coll- Right of community to freedom of movement Indiv- Right to strike in pursuit of pay and employment rights Coll- Right of community to expect good service from public servants who are paid from their tax