Public Law
2010
The Human Rights Act and anti-terrorism in the UK: one great leap forward by Parliament, but are the courts able to slow the steady retreat that has followed?
David McKeever Subject: Human rights. Other related subjects: Administrative law. Criminal law
Keywords: Administrative law; Freedom of expression; Inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Terrorism; Torture
Legislation: Human Rights Act 1998 Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 Terrorism Act 2006 Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 Terrorism Act 2000
European Convention on Human Rights 1950 art.3, art.10
Cases: A v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2005] UKHL 71; [2006] 2 A.C. 221 (HL) A v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 56;
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112 protected domestically under the HRA (as listed in Schedule 1 to that Act), are not identical.7
It is important to keep these initial goals in mind when assessing recent anti-terrorism legislation.
Impact of the Human Rights Act
In terms of substantive law, the HRA has had a significant impact in many areas of English law. One of the more obvious,8 and controversial,9 examples is the law relating to privacy. However the impact of the HRA has not been limited to privacy, criminal law, and immigration/asylum. The Act is being increasingly invoked in commercial litigation, and was recently relied on by Northern Rock shareholders seeking to challenge the Government's 2008 compensation scheme.10
Also significant is that the HRA has, in practice, a measure of ‘horizontal effect’. Section 6(1) of the Act makes it unlawful for Courts (as public authorities)11 to act in a manner incompatible with Convention rights, and UK courts are thus obliged to have regard to Convention rights even where these arise in private disputes.12
In addition, whatever the situation regarding recent anti-terrorism legislation,13 it is generally true that questions of human rights are now considered in a more systematic manner, and at an earlier stage of the legislative process, than was the case before 1998.14
*P.L. 113 In light of the foregoing, it is incorrect to describe the “continuing futility” of the HRA,15 and is not mere hyperbole to describe the
Data Protection Act 1998, Freedom of Information Act 2000, Health and Social Care Act 2008, and Human Rights Act 1998
For the home country England there are many policies and procedures within the legislation that relate to safeguarding human rights, data protection and confidentiality. These have been refined into every school policy and procedures such as the human rights act 1998/2004, children act 1989/2004 and the data protection act 1998.
Both statutory interpretation and the Human Rights Act are a doctrine of precedent by which law is changed and justice is served. The doctrine of precedent is an essential principle of English legal system, which is a form of reasoning, interpreting and decision making formed by case law. It suggests that precedents not only have persuasive authority but must also be shadowed when similar situations arise. Any rule or principle declared by a higher court must be followed in future cases. In short the courts and tribunals are bound within prearranged restrictions by prior decisions of other superior courts. All the judges are also obliged to follow the set-up precedents established by prior decisions which is called Stare decisis. Making decisions according to precedent helps achieve two objectives. Initially it aids to maintain a system of stable laws which gives predictability to the law and affords a degree of safety for individual rights. Moreover, it ensures that the law progresses only in accordance with the developing perceptions of the community. Therefore, it more accurately mirrors the morals and prospects of the community that we live in.
Australia’s first anti-terror laws were enacted in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11 (Prof Andrew Lynch 2010). In recent years, increasing Australian involvement in international conflict has seen these laws shift to accommodate alarming trends in home grown terrorism (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 2014). Sydney’s 2014 terror raids prompted the most significant changes to Australia’s counter terrorism legislation in the last decade (Commonwealth of Australia Department of Defence 2015). Amendments granted law enforcement and intelligence agencies new and somewhat controversial powers, in the name of national security.
The most commonly known policy that has affected all of the services is the human rights policy. This act was passed in the UK in 1998 which protected us and gave us the right to life, education, liberty and security and freedom of expression.
Human Rights Act 1998 – Gives further legal status to the standards on Human Rights that was set out in 1948 with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This highlighted the principle that all humans have the same rights and should be treated equally. This act also sets out the rights of all individuals and allows individuals to take action against authorities when their rights are affected.
The human’s rights act is very useful within the UK because it lays down the law about what rights we have. It
The Single biggest piece of legislation that has recently come into force is the equality act 2010, it became law in October 2010 and it replaced a lot of previous legislation that provides a more effective legal framework for preventing discrimination. It replaces;
Based on analysis from these four cases, conclusions regarding the effectiveness of human rights policy will be discussed.
Does the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) (“Charter”) protect the conduct of Josh, Dianne and Cary?
The adoption of legislation such as the Anti-terrorism Act (1996), is a good indicator of past injustices and the unrestricted investigations by the bureau based on political agendas. The Act's deliberate criminalization of peaceful activity gave the F.B.I. leverage to involve itself in the religious, ethnic and political grouping involving themselves in peaceful and humanitarian work. Afterwards, it grew to encourage politically motivated investigations. The deportation and exclusion of immigrants on the basis of guilt
POL 201 Week 5 Final Paper Civil Liberties, Habeas Corpus, and the War on Terror
The reform of the Human Rights Act can illustrate that the constitutional reform did not go far enough. In 1998, the Blair government announced that the citizens ' rights would be safeguarded and strengthened through incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. However, this created a problem as the UK now has two sets of rights – those built up under Common Law and those in the Human Rights Act. These two sets of rights may conflict and, in addition, cases can be taken using these rights to both the UK Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights (which is the supreme court for the European Convention on Human Rights). The UK judiciary is divided on how to resolve this issue.
3) “It was not until after 9/11 that democratic countries introduced legislation that criminalised an ‘act of terrorism’” (O’Hare, 2011) To aid police in their fight against terrorism, the Australian Government has made a significant number of changes to current legislation, as well as introducing a number of new counter-terrorism laws to assist law enforcement in responding to terrorist threats. “The states and territories have referred legislative powers to the Commonwealth to allow the creation of a single set of terrorism offences under the Criminal Code Act 1995 (the Criminal Code).” (Counter-Terrorism White Paper, 2010, p. 55) These amendments, and additional legislation, have been instrumental in allowing law enforcement to respond to terrorist threats. In addition to new criminal offences, new powers include; more effective detention and questioning powers; the ability to declare terrorist organisations illegal; and the ability to exercise more control over people’s movements. The new counter-terrorism “offences are aimed at individuals who engage in, train for, prepare, plan, finance or provide support for terrorist acts.” (Counter-Terrorism White Paper, 2010, p. 55) Other tools within the Criminal Code available are ‘control orders’ and ‘preventative detention’. “Control orders are protective measures that can restrict a person’s movements and activities.” (Counter-Terrorism White Paper, 2010, p. 57) Whereas
The Human Rights Act of 1998, also abbreviated to HRA is a national law passed in the United Kingdom and mostly came into force on 2 October 2000. Its purpose is to incorporate the rights within the European Convention on Human Rights into UK national law. This law allows the citizens of the United Kingdom to defend their rights in UK courts and states that public organisations such as the Government, Police and other public authorities must respect the people’s rights by treating them fairly and equally with dignity. Firstly, this essay will be discussing what the Human Rights Act (1998) is and its effects. Secondly, this essay will be pointing out the Articles and explaining the Act. Thirdly, this essay will be talking about the history and why this act came into place. Finally, this essay will argue the necessity of the Human Rights Act (1998).