Following recent criticism from the likes of Tony B "liar" should the Human Rights Act be scrapped?
Content of the Human Rights Act:The HRA makes certain rights and freedoms guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights enforceable in United Kingdom courts. The ECHR has not been incorporated in its entirety, e.g. Article 13, the right to an effective judicial remedy in a national court, is expressly excluded from the HRA. The following table outlines the main provisions of the ECHR that have been incorporated into the HRA with some indication of the issues that are likely to arise under them.
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Rights Issues[/align] [align=left]
A2: Right to life[/align] [align=left]abortion; availability of life-saving treatments; euthanasia; deaths in custody[/align] [align=left]
A3: Prohibition of torture & inhuman & degrading treatment[/align] [align=left]corporal punishment; "pin down"; respecting the dignity of vulnerable people e.g. the elderly mentally ill; female circumcision[/align] [align=left]
A4: Prohibition of slavery[/align] [align=left]effectively abolished in 1774, but note recent cases of servants held in slave-like conditions[/align] [align=left]
A5: Right to liberty[/align] [align=left]powers of arrest; detention of the mentally ill; periods of detention; detention without trial[/align] [align=left]
A6: Right to a fair trial[/align] [align=left]court delays; disclosure of evidence; right to silence; search and seizure orders; legal representation[/align] [align=left]
A7: No punishment without lawful authority[/align] [align=left]criminal law must be certain and an offence at the time it was committed e.g. marital rape; penalties cannot be introduced afterwards[/align] [align=left]
A8: Right to respect for private and family life[/align] [align=left]access to records; public surveillance; telephone tapping; care orders; closure of residential homes; fertility treatment[/align] [align=left]
A9: Freedom of thought, conscience and religion[/align] [align=left]blasphemy; employment practices; religious denomination schools; religious "cults"; charitable funding[/align] [align=left]
A10: Freedom of expression[/align] [align=left]restrictions on the media re privacy; defamatory statements; reporting of court proceedings; "whistleblowers"[/align] [align=left]
A11: Freedom of assembly and association[/align] [align=left]right to belong to trade unions; policing of demonstrations; music festivals; membership of "cults"[/align] [align=left]
A12: Right to marry[/align] [align=left]rights of transsexuals; same sex marriages; arranged marriages[/align] [align=left]
A14: Prohibition of discrimination[/align] [align=left]prohibits "discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status"[/align] [align=left]
Part II: The first protocol[/align] [align=left]
A1: Protection of property[/align] [align=left]powers of search and seizure; planning; licensing; access to environmental information[/align] [align=left]
A2: Right to education[/align] [align=left]school exclusions; corporal punishment; special educational needs[/align] [align=left]
A3: Right to free elections[/align] [align=left]right to vote; funding of political parties; restrictions on electoral campaigning[/align] [align=left]
Part III: The sixth protocol[/align] [align=left]
A1: Abolition of the death penalty[/align] [align=left]now effectively abolished[/align]
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/80042--d.htm