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The Uk's Healthcare Law Service
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On 2 October this year [2000] The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force giving effect to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in UK Law. After the Act comes in force:- * Legislation will have to be interpreted subject to convention rights, if possible *Public authorities will have to respect convention rights *Courts
and tribunals will have to give remedies for human rights
violations * The right to life; * The right to liberty; * The right to fair procedures in criminal and civil proceedings; * The right to respect for privacy; * The right to freedom of expression; *The right to equality; *The right to property.
Quite what the practical effect of applying these convention
rights to UK law will have in the healthcare industry remains
to be seen but we have already observed how lawyers in one
milestone case, Devon Health Authority ex Parte Coughlan,
argued successfully that Ms Coughlan’s article 8 rights (the
right to respect privacy) were relevant in seeking relief
effectively to secure her entitlement to remain under the
care of a particular health authority in a particular home,
having been promised as much. |
There are many circumstances in which I have
acted for people denied this basic right. I hope this will strengthen
home owners’ positions and those of their advisers and serve as
a reminder to those in power that everyone
has the right to be heard before any decision is made which may
damage them. I propose to produce a more in-depth analysis of the
key provisions of this legislation in future issues dealing with
my expectations as to the particular impact it will have upon the
care home sector (yes, home owners have rights too!)
For
the time being I will end with this:
Extraordinary though in many respects this new Act is, it really
only states or re-states certain basic propositions to which I imagine
all normal people will aspire, these include:
· Respect for parliamentary democracy;
· Respect for civil liberties;
· Respect for human dignity;
· The principle that all intrusions into a person’s rights should
at very least be positively sanctioned by law.
Let’s not be frightened to applaud and embrace new legislation which
bolsters our legal rights as individuals - wherever it may be born.
The temptation to ignore the rights of the individual in the face
of seemingly unarguable demands for more protection for the public
as a whole is very real. This sort of legislation one hopes will
help maintain a balance.
(c)Robert Campbell December 2000. The author is a solicitor, Principal
of Robert Cambell Associates specialising in healthcare law and
employment law.
Telephone:
0870 2412139
E-mail: Click here
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