UK Human Rights Law
How human rights are protected in the UK through the Human Rights Act, the ongoing political battle over replacing it, and the tension between parliamentary sovereignty and individual rights.
The Human Rights Act 1998
The Human Rights Act (HRA) incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into UK domestic law, allowing British courts to hear human rights claims without requiring applicants to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The ECHR itself is not an EU institution but a Council of Europe treaty signed in 1950, partly drafted by British lawyers including David Maxwell Fyfe.
The HRA requires all public authorities, including government departments, the police, local councils, and the NHS, to act compatibly with Convention rights. These include the right to life, prohibition of torture, right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, and the right to privacy. If a court finds that an Act of Parliament is incompatible with Convention rights, it can issue a 'declaration of incompatibility,' signaling to Parliament that the law needs changing, though Parliament is not legally obliged to act.