Tag Archives: british bill of rights

The Human Rights Act 1998: Why this must always be protected

By Hannah Ashworth | Mon 27th July 2015 - 3:58 pm

After the 2015 general election, David Cameron announced that during his time in government he will try and scrap the Human Rights Act of 1998 and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. After this statement only one thought sprung to mind: has David Cameron officially lost it?

However with David Cameron’s small majority, I hardly think this motion will be accepted among the MPs of the House of Commons, let alone the great British public.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged human rights act | 16 Comments

Opinion: Three small ways in which a British Bill of Rights could improve on the Human Rights Act 1998

By Ben Boult | Mon 20th July 2015 - 9:37 am

The title of this piece is fairly self-explanatory. As such, I shall get straight into the substance of my proposals:

1) Whereas any interference with a person’s human rights must be “necessary in a democratic society” according to the Human Rights Act 1998, let’s replace this test with “necessary in a free and democratic society” in the forthcoming British Bill of Rights

In recent years, it has become apparent that many in political life, as well as in our judiciary, would benefit from a liberal nudge when it comes to deciding cases involving our civil liberties. For the sake of brevity, I am not going to revisit every controversy in this regard, but suffice it to say, the Brown Government’s proposals for 42 days pre-charge detention, the Coalition’s plans to sanction “annoying and nuisance” behaviours in public places and the current Government’s proposals to turn Ofcom into a censor rather than review body were / are extremely concerning given our cherished status as a free country.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged human rights act | 15 Comments

Opinion: a British Bill of Rights should include judicial review of legislation

By Nigel Roberts | Thu 10th March 2011 - 11:15 am

British people’s attitude to fundamental rights is deteriorating alarmingly. Liberal Democrats in government have a key opportunity to reverse the trend.

When the incoming Labour Government issued ‘Bringing Rights Home’, in the wake of the UK having the worst human rights record in terms of adverse judgments except Turkey, we all applauded.

But the weasel words of the Human Rights act, which explicitly ruled out judicial review of legislation (as happens in Canada under the Charter, and has happeed in the USA since Marbury -v- Madison) has created a climate where the majority of the British people now think that fundamental …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ecthr, human rights act, jack straw and judicial review | 13 Comments