1.4Rights In Context Flashcards
(20 cards)
What are rights?
-legally protected freedoms, everyone has them and they can’t be removed
- in the UK they are historically unwritten (conventions), however are now guaranteed under Humans rights act of 1998
What do rights in the Uk include
- freedom of speech, fair and equal treatment under law, freedom of religion, right to vote, right to belong to an association, freedom of movement, social rights
What are civic obligations and obligations
- legal obligations, like following the law, pay tax, perform jury service
- moral responsibilities, vote, take part in protecting environment
- active citizenship, offer voluntary community service
How were rights prior to Human rights act
- until 1998, there were ‘negative rights’, people could do things which weren’t prohibited by law
- some laws weee protected by acts of parliament, while other eps derive from common law
How does the UK have a rights based culture
- since HRA, it’s claimed UK has developed a rights based culture as all new legislation must be compliant with the act and judges can declare earlier acts of parliament incompatible with it
How are rights in the UK protected
- UK doesn’t have a codified constitution, so it’s not entrenched
- however it’s protected by legislation, like equality act, HRA, pressure groups, HOL, parties, common law
What was the Magna Carta
1215, oldest statements in rights in Uk
- limited royal power, as King John was a tyrant
What was the bill of rights
- 1689, to do with limiting power of monarch, and increasing power of parliament
What was the EU convention on human rights
- in 1950, drawn up in council of Europe
- ENu court of HR was set up in stratus burg to hear cases where people felt their rights were infringed in their countries
What is the Human rights act
- passed by labour in 1998, enshrined the EU convention on human rights into UK law
What are the arguments for the HRA?
- UK has developed a rights based culture, as parliament acts to address issues raised by courts and parliament, also having a joint committe on Human rights to scrutinise bills and ensure they are compatible
- it places public authorities in the UK under an obligation to treat everyone with fairness, equality and dignity
- Article 2 is protected ( the right to life). Was used to obtain a new inquest into the hillsborough disaster
What are the arguments against the Human rights act
- many say it stops terror suspects from being deported, therefore favours undeserving citizens
- it gives unelected judges too much power
- it’s not entrenched and could be repealed by an act of parliament
What was the freedom of information act
- in 2000, made it easier for opposition MPs, journalists and voters to ask for info about the gov
- members of public gained access to any info held about them by public bodies
What was the equality act
- in 2010, identified 9 characteristics, making it illegal for discrimination against people with these characteristics
What an example of a civil liberties pressure group
(Stonewall in 1.3)
- Liberty, campaigns to protect civil liberties, and human rights in the UK
- it has challenged the Investigatory powers Act in 2016 in the high court, as well as challenging hostile environment policies for immigrants in the UK
- after raising 50k from a crowdfunder, it challenged key provisions of the act, and were successful, as it was amended in 2018. This increased the thresheold for accessing communications data only for purpose of serious crime and for authorities to consult an independent investigatory powers commissioner before requesting data
What is judicial review
- type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews lawfulness of a decision/action made by a public body, courts have power to ensure those in power haven’t abused their power in what are called ultra virus cases
EG: on issues of privacy, judges have been accused of creating a privacy law through their interpretation of HRA, giving supremacy to article 8 over article 10
What are the arguments for and against judicial review
- it’s a vital means of defending citizens rights, enabling gov actions to be scrutinised ✅
- places too much power in hands of unelected and unaccountable judges❌
How does parliament and gov protect rights in the UK
- introducing legislation
- 2010 Equality act through Gordan Browns Gov
- 2013 Same sex marriage legalised
- HOL is crucial in defending human rights
What is the policing, crime, sentencing and courts act of 2022
- gives greater power to police and criminal justice system to impose restrictions on ‘unacceptable protests’
- day after it came into effect, Steve Bray had his amplification equipment seized by Police
- can be seen as a response to direct action campaigns by pressure groups and social movements, like BLM
How can collective and individual rights be seen to conflict
- individual and collective groups often conflict, in relation to public security
EG: Terrorism, Blair’s Gov clashed with HOL, as high profile terrorist attacks (9/11) led to gov measures limiting civil liberties in interests of protecting wider community, as ministers argues they had right to detain suspected terrorists without trial on grounds of a national emergency
