Are rights in the UK adequately protected – Yes or No
Yes:
1. Section 3 of the HRA
This means that the judiciary must interpret statutes in a way that is compatible with
the HRA, however this often sees the true meaning of a statute changed
e.g Connolly V DPP the Malicious Communications Act 1988, which Parliament
clearly intended to prohibit people from sending indecent communications, was
given a more limited meaning by the courts to make it compatible with Article 10 of
the Convention.
- e.g Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza 2004 saw a man denied the right to inherit his
partner's inheritance because they were in a same-sex relationship. The House of
Lords held that the law should be interpreted in a way that was compatible with the
European Convention on Human Rights. As a result, the law was changed to include
same-sex partners in the definition of "spouse" for the purposes of inheritance,
changing the meaning of all parliament acts involving the topic.
2. Section 4 of the HRA – Declarations of Incompatibility
Allows the judiciary to place huge political pressure on parliament to change a law,
when they feel a law is incompatible with the European Convention of Human
Rights, notifying parliament further legal challenges are virtually inevitable unless
amendments are made
e.g In June 2018, the UK Supreme Court issued a declaration of incompatibility under
the Human Rights Act 1998. This declaration stated that the Civil Partnerships Act
2004 was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, seeing
Parliament change the bill to allow heterosexual couples to have a civil partnership.
- e.g The Belmarsh case saw the Law Lords’ decide that the detention of foreign
terrorists without trial under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act was a
violation of European human rights laws. Hence, Parliament passed the 2005
Prevention of Terrorism Act to deal with this ruling
3. Developing common law to protect citizens’ rights
- In 1991, R v R, the House of Lords established that rape could be committed within
marriage, which protected the rights of married women.
- The ‘Gay cake case’ in 2014 began when Ashers bakery, owned by Christians, refused
to make a cake with a slogan supporting same-sex marriage. The customer then
brought a discrimination case against the bakery, however UKSC were unanimous
that this was not discriminatory under UK law, rejecting an opportunity to extend
discriminatory laws. This expanded rights to religious freedom.
, No:
1. Uncodified constitution
The lack of codified constitution means that rights lack a single codified source,
leaving them open to interpretation by courts, which can see the restriction of rights,
and Parliament can legislate to remove rights at any point
- e.g R (Nicklinson) v Ministry of Justice was a 2014 judgment by the Supreme Court of
the United Kingdom that considered the question of the right to die in English law.
The UKSC rejected this appeal to change the law.
- e.g The ‘Gay cake case’ in 2014 began when Ashers bakery, owned by Christians,
refused to make a cake with a slogan supporting same-sex marriage. The customer
then brought a discrimination case against the bakery, however UKSC were
unanimous that this was not discriminatory under UK law, rejecting an opportunity
to extend discriminatory laws.
2. Poor diversity and representation
Minority groups who are hardly or aren’t represented on the UKSC can hardly trust
their cases will be heard fairly and impartially, especially considering the age of the
UKSC
- e.g In 2015, Lady Hale (the only female judge) pointed out that since her
appointment, 13 judges had been appointed, who were all male, all white, all bar
two privately educated, and all bar two Oxbridge-educated
- e.g Bull and Another v Hall and Another" in 2013, where the Court held that
Christian hotel owners who refused to provide a double room to a same-sex couple
were within their rights as it was based upon their religious beliefs.
3. Exists many examples of government overreach
There must be more and clearer rights protections to prevent
- e.g In 2016, the UK government introduced the 'Snoopers' Charter’, which granted
law enforcement agencies the ability to intercept and monitor electronic
communications. Civil liberties groups criticized them as a violation of individuals'
right to privacy.
- e.g There has been concern about the UK government's use of counter-terrorism
measures to infringe on civil liberties. For example, in 2019, a man was arrested and
charged under the Terrorism Act for holding up a sign that read "Stop Funding
Terrorists" outside of a UK arms fair.
Yes:
1. Section 3 of the HRA
This means that the judiciary must interpret statutes in a way that is compatible with
the HRA, however this often sees the true meaning of a statute changed
e.g Connolly V DPP the Malicious Communications Act 1988, which Parliament
clearly intended to prohibit people from sending indecent communications, was
given a more limited meaning by the courts to make it compatible with Article 10 of
the Convention.
- e.g Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza 2004 saw a man denied the right to inherit his
partner's inheritance because they were in a same-sex relationship. The House of
Lords held that the law should be interpreted in a way that was compatible with the
European Convention on Human Rights. As a result, the law was changed to include
same-sex partners in the definition of "spouse" for the purposes of inheritance,
changing the meaning of all parliament acts involving the topic.
2. Section 4 of the HRA – Declarations of Incompatibility
Allows the judiciary to place huge political pressure on parliament to change a law,
when they feel a law is incompatible with the European Convention of Human
Rights, notifying parliament further legal challenges are virtually inevitable unless
amendments are made
e.g In June 2018, the UK Supreme Court issued a declaration of incompatibility under
the Human Rights Act 1998. This declaration stated that the Civil Partnerships Act
2004 was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, seeing
Parliament change the bill to allow heterosexual couples to have a civil partnership.
- e.g The Belmarsh case saw the Law Lords’ decide that the detention of foreign
terrorists without trial under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act was a
violation of European human rights laws. Hence, Parliament passed the 2005
Prevention of Terrorism Act to deal with this ruling
3. Developing common law to protect citizens’ rights
- In 1991, R v R, the House of Lords established that rape could be committed within
marriage, which protected the rights of married women.
- The ‘Gay cake case’ in 2014 began when Ashers bakery, owned by Christians, refused
to make a cake with a slogan supporting same-sex marriage. The customer then
brought a discrimination case against the bakery, however UKSC were unanimous
that this was not discriminatory under UK law, rejecting an opportunity to extend
discriminatory laws. This expanded rights to religious freedom.
, No:
1. Uncodified constitution
The lack of codified constitution means that rights lack a single codified source,
leaving them open to interpretation by courts, which can see the restriction of rights,
and Parliament can legislate to remove rights at any point
- e.g R (Nicklinson) v Ministry of Justice was a 2014 judgment by the Supreme Court of
the United Kingdom that considered the question of the right to die in English law.
The UKSC rejected this appeal to change the law.
- e.g The ‘Gay cake case’ in 2014 began when Ashers bakery, owned by Christians,
refused to make a cake with a slogan supporting same-sex marriage. The customer
then brought a discrimination case against the bakery, however UKSC were
unanimous that this was not discriminatory under UK law, rejecting an opportunity
to extend discriminatory laws.
2. Poor diversity and representation
Minority groups who are hardly or aren’t represented on the UKSC can hardly trust
their cases will be heard fairly and impartially, especially considering the age of the
UKSC
- e.g In 2015, Lady Hale (the only female judge) pointed out that since her
appointment, 13 judges had been appointed, who were all male, all white, all bar
two privately educated, and all bar two Oxbridge-educated
- e.g Bull and Another v Hall and Another" in 2013, where the Court held that
Christian hotel owners who refused to provide a double room to a same-sex couple
were within their rights as it was based upon their religious beliefs.
3. Exists many examples of government overreach
There must be more and clearer rights protections to prevent
- e.g In 2016, the UK government introduced the 'Snoopers' Charter’, which granted
law enforcement agencies the ability to intercept and monitor electronic
communications. Civil liberties groups criticized them as a violation of individuals'
right to privacy.
- e.g There has been concern about the UK government's use of counter-terrorism
measures to infringe on civil liberties. For example, in 2019, a man was arrested and
charged under the Terrorism Act for holding up a sign that read "Stop Funding
Terrorists" outside of a UK arms fair.
