Sources of the Law

Human Rights Act 1998 and European Communities Act 1972

In the aftermath of World War 2, many of the victorious Allied countries began taking steps to ensure cooperation in the recovery from the war as well as preventing the occurrence of such an event in the future. In 1950, the UK helped in the drafting of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) which sets out the freedom and rights of the people. Since 1966 but before 2000, British citizens were not able to bring a legal action in the UK courts should protected human rights are infringed. Rather, they had to file a legal complaint in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg. The first notable action to raise awareness on the need to introduce human rights in the UK was a paper written in 1968 by Anthony Lester entitled Democracy and Individual Rights. Supports for the incorporation of the ECHR were also voiced from judges past and current including Lord Bingham in his article, the Law Quarterly Review 1993 . After the 1997 general election, the new Labour Government introduced a White Paper entitled Rights Bought Home: The Human Rights Bill and the Human Rights Bill 1997. Finally, the Human Rights Act 1998 was enacted and came into force on 2 October 2000.

The Human Rights Act 1998 (also known as HRA) set out the ways which the rights under ECHR will be enforced within the UK. Under section 2 of the HRA, any domestic court must take into account any judgment, decision, opinion, or advice of the ECHR as far as the court see fit that the question at hand is relevant to the Convention. Section 3 of the HRA stated that all existing laws, be it primary or delegated legislation, must be interpreted, as far as possible, to give it effect which is compatib...

... middle of paper ...

...dern era. Where paranoia reign and confidence are frequently shattered, fears of a government that is too powerful fuels the arguments against the democratic system adopted in the UK.

Even judges are not immune from scrutiny nor do they escape criticisms with critics pointing out that judges regularly act out of the domain of their by enacting new laws. The scathing attack on the judiciary by Theresa May in 2013 is not a new event in history and it won’t be the last. International treaties and influence in the UK are strong and is the centre of much controversies starting with the European Communities Act 1972 although this Act is likely to be repealed in the near future. The Human Rights Act 1998 should be well monitored and regulated to not raise any unnecessary issues as it can be seen that application of this Act is ideal to preserve human rights in the UK.