Question: 'Successive British governments have maintained that human rights are already adequately protected by law in the United Kingdom. You have to look long and hard before you can detect any difference between the English common law and the principles set out in the Convention.' Assess the accuracy of this claim.
Answer: The Human Rights Act 1998 is undoubtedly one of only a handful of truly significant pieces of legislation that the UK has seen in the last 800 years. Professor Keith Ewing says that it represents the largest constitutional change since the Parliament Act 1911. For civil liberties it is the latest in a series of pronouncements, stretching back to the Magna Carta, of at least some commitment towards individual human rights. The Act provides the government with an opportunity to restore the UK to its former place both in Europe and on the World stage, as an international standard bearer of liberty and justice; a position that has been steadily diminishing since the Second World War. Human Rights must however, be taken seriously and it is vital that the Act be respected and its provisions u......(short extract)
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Details: - Mark: 70% | Course: Public Law | Year: 2nd/3rd | Words: 3691 | References: No | Date written: Not available | Date submitted: October 21, 2008 | Coursework ID: 164
