Human Rights Act 1998 Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Human Rights Act 1998 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which received Royal Assent on November 9, 1998, and came into force on October 1, 2000. Its aim is to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Act makes available in UK courts a remedy for breach of a Convention right, without the need to go to European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg.In particular, the Act makes it illegal for any public body to act in a way which is incompatible with the Convention. It also requires UK judges take account of decisions of the Strasbourg court, and to interpret legislation, as far as possible, in a way which is compatible with the Convention. However, if it is not possible to interpret an Act of Parlament so as to make it compatible with the Convention, the judges are not allowed to override it. All they can do is to issue a declaration of incompatibility. This declaration does not affect the validity of the Act of Parliament: in that way, the Human Rights Act seeks to maintain the principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty (see: Constitution of the United Kingdom). An individual can still take his case to the Strasbourg court as a last resort.
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2 The mechanics of the Act 3 Well-known cases involving the Human Rights Act 4 External link |
Jurisdiction
The Human Rights Act applies to all public bodies within the United Kingdom, including central government, local authorities, and bodies exercising public functions. It also includes the Courts. However, it does not include Parliament, when it is acting in its legislative capacity.
Stronger provisions exist for the devolved Scottish administration under the Scotland Act 1998, which provides that the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament have no power to do anything contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The mechanics of the Act
The act specifies that an individual "victim", not a pressure group or similar organisation, must bring a case to court. The power passed to the court under the act takes two forms
For a summary of the rights actually recognised under the law, see the European Convention on Human Rights article.
Well-known cases involving the Human Rights Act
The first case invoking the act was brought by The Times in October 2000 which sought to overturn a libel ruling against the newspaper involving the Lee Clegg murder case.
Naomi Campbell and Sara Cox both sought to assert their right to privacy under the act. Both cases were successful for the complainant (Campbell's on the second attempt) and an amendment to British to provision for privacy is expected to be introduced.
The James Bulger murder case tested whether it was right for the Home Secretary, a politician, was the right person to have the final say on the length of life sentences, or whether this infringed the perpertrators' right to a fair trial. The European Court found on the side of Bulger's killers Jon Venables and Robert Thompson. The 2003 Criminal Justice Act removed much of the power to set sentences previously held by the Home Secretary.