The Human Rights Act: Politics, Power, and the Law

Abstract

In 1998, the Human Rights Act (HRA),¹ which incorporated the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) into British law, was passed by the United Kingdom Parliament, giving British citizens a form of protection taken for granted in virtually every Commonwealth country and Western democracy (Dyer, The Guardian, 12 November 1998). The Act, which some have argued is the most important constitutional development in Britain since the signing of the Magna Carta, is intended to deliver ‘a modern reconciliation to the inevitable tension between the democratic right of the majority to exercise political power and the democratic need of individuals and minorities to have their human rights secured’ (Klug, Singh, and Hunt, 1997, p. 2). Anyone living within the jurisdiction of the UK, regardless of citizenship or nationality, can claim the protection of the convention. If one is a victim, in other words, if one’s rights have been or would be violated by a public authority, one can bring proceedings in any court or tribunal in the land. Provided someone can show that they are ‘personally affected’ by the decisions or actions of a public body they can bring a case for judicial review on convention grounds alone (Klug, Singh, and Hunt, 1997, p. 3).