1.4- rights in context

Question 1

how were rights protected prior to the HRA?

Answer 1

‘negative rights’ - you had the right to do something if it wasnt prohibited by the law

Question 2

what was the magna carta?
- date
- purpose

Answer 2

• 1215
• its role was to limit power due to king johns tyrannical rule
• established trial by jury

Question 3

what was the bill of rights?
- date
- purpose

Answer 3

• 1989
• further restricted the power of the monarch and increasing the power of parliament

Question 4

what is the european convention of human rights?
- data
- purpose

Answer 4

• 1950
• set up the european court of human rights to hear cases where people felt their rights had been infringed

Question 5

what was the human rights act? How did it fix the problems of the ECHC?
- date
- purpose

Answer 5

• 1998
• allowed individuals to make rights appeals in UK courts

Question 6

how is it argued that the HRA is effective?

Answer 6

• UK has developed a rights based culture as all legislation must comply with the act
• makes rights clearer to citizens
• allows for rights cases to be heard in uk courts

Question 7

give an example of when parliament responded to a declaration of incompatibility.

Answer 7

• the crime and security act 2001 was declared incompatible as it permitted the detention of suspected terrorists in a way which discriminated on the grounds of nationality/ immigration status
• parliament ammended the statute and introduced the prevention of terrorism act 2005

Question 8

what are the criticizms of the HRA?

Answer 8

• often argued that it puts the rights of undeserving indiviauls over the rights of UK citizens/ society
• gives judges too much power
• can be easily repealed by an act of parliament

Question 9

what was is the freedom of information act?
- date
- purpose/ use
- example

Answer 9

• 2000
• allows journalists and opposition mps to request government information allowing for greater accountability
• exposed the expenses scandal

Question 10

what is the equality act?
- date
- purpose

Answer 10

• 2010
• 9 protected characteristics that couldnt be discriminated against

Question 11

what is the stone wall group and how have they been important in protecting rights?

Answer 11

• stonewall campaigns for LGBT rights
• challenged the banning of homosexuality in the armed forces in the ECHR, lifted by the government in 2000
• improtant in equalising the age of consent in the 2000 sexual offences act
• marriage act 2013, legalised same sex marriage

Question 12

Give examples of 2 groups that are challenging the governments Rawanda bill.

Answer 12

• care for calais: helped to preve the take off of the first flight to rawanda in 2022 through a legal challenge in the ECHR
• liberty

Question 13

what act is liberty known for challenging? and to what extent was this succesfull?

Answer 13

• they challenged the 2016 investigatory powers act in the high court
• IPA obliged internet companies to store information about individuals brousing history
• lead to the act being ammended but not repealed

Question 14

what are the arguments that government and parliament do and do not protect rights in the UK?

Answer 14

• they can use legislation to protect rights
• parliament can challenge government legislation that infringes upon rights
  HOWEVER
• recent governments can be seen to limit human rights due to their strong stances on law and order

Question 15

what was the act that limited protest?
- name
- what did it do

Answer 15

The policing, crime, sentencing and courts act 2022
- allows police to impose restrictions on protests it deems ‘unacceptable’
- home secretary can decide what is an isnt unacceptable

the public order act
- created new offenses such as ‘locking on’ (attaching yourself to things) punishable by inprisonment or unlimited fines

Question 16

how was the public order act used recently?

Answer 16

2023, policy arrested 60 just stop oil protestors walking around parliament square

Question 17

how can recent conservative governments be seen to be trying to impede on human rights?

Answer 17

• proposed ‘british bill of rights’
• argued the the HRA has lead to successfull claims in courts over deportation and terrorism that are unjustifiable

Question 18

how was blair seen to impede upon rights?

Answer 18

• Blair was defeated in 2005 in the commons after proposing to allow police to hold terror suspects for 90 days without charge
• lead to a compromise of 28 days
• blair was defeated in 2004 by the law lords over the indefinite suspension of terror suspects

Question 19

give an example of when courts have been complicit in restricting individual rights?

Answer 19

• shamima begum court appeal
• ruled that the refusal of her entry into the UK was lawful
• in 2021 in Begum v home secretary the SC ruled that shamima should not be allowed to re-enter the UK to fight for her citizenship

Question 20

what are the arguments that rights are effectivelly protected?

Answer 20

• HRA has created a rights based culture, declarations of incompatibility
• pressure groups can protect rights through legal challenges and campaigns
• parliament protects rights through acts

Question 21

what are the arguments that rights are not effectively protected?

Answer 21

• declarations of incompatibility are not binding as parliament is sovereign
• courts are sometimes complict in the restriction of rights
• parliamentary sovereignty allows them to set limits on rights (IPA and protest)
• pressure groups have limited power over strong govts

Question 22

give an example of when the supreme court has protected individual rights.

Answer 22

Abu Qatada v UK the ECHR ruled that AQ could not be deported as it was believed that the case was based on evidence obtained using torture (2012)

Question 23

how many covid related statutory instruments were introduced between 2020 and 2022?

Answer 23

• 582