Human rights in the United Kingdom

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United Kingdom

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The United Kingdom has a long and established tradition of avowed respect for its subjects' human rights. At the same time, the UK, like many nations, has also had a history of both de jure and de facto racial and ethnic-religious discrimination, and, even in recent history, occasional violations of basic human rights, particularly in times of national security crises.

Contents

[edit] Security legislation

[edit] Northern Ireland

During the 1970s and 1980s, the British government focused a lot of effort on measures to combat the activities of the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Included in these measures, the government curtailed the civil liberties - and arguably the human rights - of some interned IRA suspects. The Ministry of Defence stated "moderate physical pressure" was applied to the men. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that this constituted "cruel and inhuman treatment", but fell short of torture in a landmark 1978 case [1].

[edit] War on terrorism

The "War on Terrorism" has recently led to new human rights concerns.

The most recent criticism has concerned the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, a response to a perceived increased threat of Islamic terrorism. This act allows the house arrest of terrorist suspects where there is insufficient evidence to bring them to trial, involving the derogation (opting-out) of human rights laws. This aspect of the Prevention of Terrorism Act was introduced because the detention without trial of nine foreigners at HM Prison Belmarsh under Part IV of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 was held to be unlawful under human rights legislation in A and Others v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (2004).

Both the above Acts have been criticised for the lack of parliamentary discussion; the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act went from introduction to Royal Assent in 32 days, the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 17.

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 has also been criticised as giving the government very wide-ranging power in an emergency.

On February 2, 2005, Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights also suggested that the proposed legislation on the British national identity card might contravene Article 8 of the European Convention (the right to respect for private life) and Article 14 (the right to non-discrimination) [2].

[edit] Conventions and Acts

[edit] European Convention on Human Rights (1950)

Main Article: European Convention on Human Rights

Drafted soon after the end of the Second World War, in 1953 the UK was one of the first countries to sign up to the convention, in which Articles 2 to 14 specify the rights that are protected. Currently, over 45 countries are members. Over the years, protocols have been added through agreement between participating nations - not all protocols must be agreed to by all nations, though it is encouraged. An international body, the European Court of Human Rights was formed by the convention and seeks to uphold it.

[edit] Human Rights Act 1998

Main Article: Human Rights Act 1998

The Act seeks to increase the power of and supplement the European Convention on Human Rights, firstly through adapting the legal system to avoid potential breaches of the convention. Should a convention right be broken, the Act allows it to be remedied by UK courts without needing recourse to the ECHR. Further, it makes unlawful any breach of the convention by a public (government) body.

However, should an Act of Parliament be passed which conflicts with the convention, the courts cannot overrule or disregard it. The later Act must be interpreted as far as possible consistently with the Human Rights Act, but must be implemented, regardless of whether it is lawful according to the convention or not. The court can make a "declaration of incompatibility", but even this cannot force a change, merely strongly encourage reconsideration by Parliament, which remains sovereign.

[edit] Privacy

The European Convention includes a right to privacy. This is one right that British law had not taken seriously beforehand, and there was a lot of speculation in the legal community as to how far the new act would change the law; battles between privacy and free speech were expected. Although Naomi Campbell and Sara Cox have both won high-profile cases, the law has not had quite the impact that had been anticipated.

[edit] Human Rights Organisations

  • The Nobel Peace Prize winning Amnesty International the largest human rights organisation in the world, was set up in the UK.
  • JUSTICE is a human rights and law reform organisation based in the UK. It is the British Section of the International Commission of Jurists. Its mission is to promote human rights and advance the rule of law in the UK.
  • The lobbying organisation Liberty is an influential pressure group which aims to protect civil liberties within the UK.
  • ARTICLE 19 works to promote freedom of expression in the UK and worldwide.
  • A statutory body, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (www.nihrc.org) was set up in 1999 following the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.
  • No2ID opposes the ID card scheme, in particular, the amalgamation of databases to create an unprecedented intrusion into people's privacy.

[edit] Internment

Main article: Internment

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 was passed.

Part 4 of the Act provided for the indefinite detention without charge of foreign nationals certified by the Home Secretary as "suspected international terrorists" where such persons could not be deported on the grounds that they faced a real risk of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment if removed to their home country.

Part 4 did not create new detention powers - under the 1971 Immigration Act, the Home Secretary has the power to detain a foreign national pending deportation. Instead, Part 4 removed a limitation on detention powers imposed by the requirements of Article 5(1)(f) of the European Convention on Human Rights (which provided, among other things, that someone could only be detained for a short period prior to deportation). This was achieved by the British government derogating from the ECHR on the basis that the threat to the UK amounted to a 'public emergency threatening the life of the nation' within the meaning of Article 15.

However, the use of immigration detention powers meant that, although the British government could not force them, the detainees were technically free to return (albeit facing a real risk of torture). However, 2 detainees did leave - one to France and one to Morocco.

In 2002, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission held that indefinite detention under Part 4 was incompatible with the right to non-discrimination under Article 14 ECHR, on the basis that only suspected terrorists who were foreign nationals were subjected to detention, while suspects who were British nationals remained free. However, SIAC's declaration of Part 4's incompatibility with Article 14 was quashed by the Court of Appeal.

In December 2004, the House of Lords held 8-1 that Part 4 was incompatible with both Article 5 and Article 14 ECHR on the basis that indefinite detention was both a disproportionate measure notwithstanding the seriousness of the terrorist threat, as well as discriminatory.

Following the judgment, the government moved to introduce control orders as an (highly controversial) alternative measure. The use of control orders and the repeal of Part 4 of the 2001 was secured by the passing of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.

[edit] Human trafficking

There has been a growing awareness of human trafficking as a human rights issue in the UK, in particular the trafficking of women and under-age girls in to the UK for forced prostitution. A particular high profile case resulted in the conviction of five Albanians who ‘trafficked’ a 16 year old Lithuanian girl and forced her into prostitution. [3] According to Home Office figures, there are over 1,000 cases of trafficking each year. Amnesty International has called on the UK government to sign the The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings that the UK has not yet signed. [4] [5]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Human rights in Europe

Albania · Andorra · Armenia2 · Austria · Azerbaijan4 · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus2 · Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia4 · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan1 · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Republic of Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia1 · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey1 · Ukraine · United Kingdom

Dependencies, autonomies and other territories
Abkhazia4 · Adjara2 · Åland · Azores · Akrotiri and Dhekelia · Crimea · Faroe Islands · Gibraltar · Guernsey · Isle of Man · Jersey · Kosovo · Madeira · Nagorno-Karabakh2 · Nakhichevan2 · Transnistria · Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus2, 3

1 Has significant territory in Asia. 2 Entirely in West Asia, but considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons. 3 Only recognised by Turkey. 4 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the border between Europe and Asia.

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