THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT - A STEP FURTHER INTO EUROPE
By Robert T. Campbell
December 2000.
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 Act will have the broadest imaginable impact upon UK Law,
spanning as it will across all law affecting public and
private rights. All lawyers will now have to consult European
case law to see how the convention rights should be
interpreted in relation to UK law. The convention rights
include the following:-
*
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.
One particular aspect of the legislation which appeals to me
is in article 6(1) which I reproduce in extract as follows:-
“In
the determination of his civil rights and obligations……..
everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a
reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal
established by law".
I
shouldn’t really find this attractive, as it merely re-inforces
a basis tenet contained in our common law Rules of Natural
Justice - but I do!
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