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How Effective Does The Human Rights Act 1998 Promote Substantive Equality?

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1.2.1 How Effective Does The Human Rights Act 1998 Promote Substantive Equality
This section provides a summary of the main findings of major reviews that have been conducted of the effectiveness of the Human Rights Act by the government, the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the Commission. The reviews indicated that the HRA had largely had a positive impact on public service delivery and the enjoyment of human rights. However there are a number of barriers to the HRA 's effectiveness: significant misconceptions about the HRA are held by sections of the media, general public and at times public authorities (including by frontline staff in public authorities on when the HRA is not relevant), a need to improve understanding and application of the HRA by public authorities, and a need for better leadership on human rights issues by the government and the Commission.
These issues are also linked to the discussion of the process for developing any Bill of Rights in Chapter 4.
Reviews by the government and the Joint Committee on Human Rights
There have been two reviews conducted by the government on the effectiveness of the HRA. In July 2006 the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) published a review in response to the Prime Minister’s request to the Lord Chancellor to consider any problems with the implementation of the HRA. In addition, the Home Office conducted a review of the effect of the HRA in the context of a wider review of the criminal justice system to

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