Campaigners said the government's proposals for identity cards altered the relationship between the citizen and the state, and that it was inevitable that minorities (especially racial minorities) would suffer discrimination as a result.
Source: Liberty's Evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on the Government's Identity Card Proposals, Liberty (020 7403 3888)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
The government announced that, from January 2004, the 'Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study' would enable a comparison to be made between all individual benefits records held by the Department for Work and Pensions and all employment records held by the Inland Revenue. It said that this would help it to counter benefit fraud, and at the same time monitor the effectiveness of welfare to work programmes.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 16 December 2003, column 133WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | DWP press release | Longitudinal Study homepage | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
A research report examined the effect of the Human Rights Act on the welfare state, specifically social security provision for working age people and social care provision for elderly and disabled people. It found that while the concept of dependency was still viewed negatively, there was some recognition of the link between human rights and social interdependency.
Source: Hartley Dean, Dependency, Responsibility and Rights, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Nov
The government announced plans for a Bill introducing a system of identity cards (despite reports of serious disagreements between cabinet ministers). The system, to be phased in over a number of years, would involve basic personal information, a digital photograph and a 'biometric' which could include facial recognition, iris scans or fingerprints. The government said it expected that 80 per cent of the adult population would have an ID card by 2013 if passports and driving licences were issued on the proposed biometric basis. The card would become compulsory thereafter for all residents after a further decision by the Cabinet and a vote in Parliament. The government also published the results of a consultation exercise which it said showed public support for ID cards: it was accused of distorting the results by ignoring those from an 'organised campaign'. Doubts were reportedly raised over whether the scheme could be extended to Scotland, and to Irish citizens living in the United Kingdom.
Source: Identity Cards: The Next Steps, Cm 6020, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Identity Cards: Summary of Findings from the Consultation Exercise on Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud, Cm 6019, Home Office, TSO | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 11 November 2003, columns 171-187, TSO | The Guardian, 6 November 2003 | The Guardian, 14 November 2003
Links: Report (pdf) | Consultation responses (pdf) | Home Office press release | Consultation paper (pdf) | Guardian report 6/11 | Guardian report 14/11 | Guardian report 21/11 | Hansard
Date: 2003-Nov
A joint committee of MPs and peers welcomed the 'many positive aspects' of both the Green Paper on children's services and the government s response to a previous committee report on children's rights, and in particular the commitment to establish a children s commissioner for England. But it also noted some 'omissions and shortcomings' in the government s response concerning its obligations under the United Nations convention on children's rights; in particular, the use of the convention as a framework for policy; the treatment of children in the criminal justice system; and the defence of 'reasonable chastisement'.
Source: Government's Response to the Committee's Tenth Report of Session 2002-03 on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Eighteenth Report (Session 2002-03), HL 187 and HC 1279, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Tenth report | Community Care report
Date: 2003-Nov
The government published guidance to clarify the existing legal powers available to public authorities to share personal data.
Source: Public Sector Data Sharing: Guidance on the law, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Guide (pdf) | DCA press release
Date: 2003-Nov
A new book examined the extent to which the Human Rights Act 1998 had strengthened human rights, and its impact on the legal system.
Source: Jeffrey Jowell and Jonathan Cooper (eds.), Delivering Rights: How the Human Rights Act is working and for whom, Hart Publishing (01865 245533)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Nov
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission published an action plan, reasserting its commitment to remain independent of governments and political parties. It said it would urge the United Kingdom government to increase the powers of the Commission. It also declared its strong support for an inter-party forum on a Bill of Rights, and for discussions on how such a Bill could best protect social and economic rights together with identity, community and minority rights.
Source: Action Plan, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (028 9024 3987)
Links: NIHRC press release and plan | NIO press release
Date: 2003-Oct
A campaign group (opposed to large-scale immigration) proposed a free, non-compulsory system of identity cards. It said the system, which could be fully in place by the end of the decade, would bring all the benefits of a compulsory scheme while avoiding the pitfalls.
Source: Assuring Identity - A new approach, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Oct
The Law Lords rejected an attempt to establish that a right existed under English law to sue for invasion of privacy.
Source: Wainwright and another (Appellants) v. Home Office (Respondents), UKHL 53 (Session 2002-03), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The Court of Appeal ruled (in the first case of its kind) on the power of the courts to award damages under the Human Rights Act 1998. Dismissing the appeals before it from a number of asylum seekers, it said that the state could have a duty to provide an individual with welfare support in order to ensure respect for private and family life, but such an obligation was only likely to arise where the welfare of children was at stake or family life was seriously inhibited. It said that maladministration could constitute a lack of respect for private and family life if there was an element of culpability involved or, at the very least, knowledge that the individual's private and family life were at risk. Damages could be awarded for such maladministration under the Human Rights Act 1998 if that was just and appropriate and necessary to afford just satisfaction: but awards should be modest.
Source: Anufrijeva and another v Southwark London Borough Council; R (N) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; R (M) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Court of Appeal 16 October 2003
Links: Text of judgement | Law report | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
The Home Secretary said that he favoured a compulsory national identity card system to help fight crime, and that he was hoping to persuade his Cabinet colleagues to include proposals in the Queen's Speech in the autumn of 2003.
Source: The Guardian, 22 September 2003
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
The government published a draft order for the regulation of phone and internet records used to fight crime. It said it had radically revised its original proposals, made in 2002, following public concern over the extent of access afforded to public bodies. It said the new measures clearly restricted who in public authorities could access data, and the type of information available to them. The government also published a draft order regulating the use of covert surveillance and human intelligence sources (informants and undercover officers) by a range of public authorities.
Source: The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Communications Data) Order 2003, Draft Statutory Instrument, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) Order 2003, Draft Statutory Instrument, Home Office, TSO | Press release 12 September 2003, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Communications data draft order | Explanatory notes (pdf) | Covert human intelligence sources draft order | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Sep
An Audit Commission report said that many public sector organisations were having trouble implementing the Human Rights Act. Of the 175 public bodies in local government, health and criminal justice surveyed, 58 per cent had still not adopted a strategy for human rights.
Source: Human Rights: Improving public service delivery, Audit Commission (0800 502030)
Links: Report | Audit Commission press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A guide was published to human rights legislation in relation to education. It said that large parts of education law had still to be tested: it was vital that local authorities should be aware of the potential impact of the 1998 Act, recognise when human rights issues may arise and, in certain cases, be prepared for challenges.
Source: Simon Whitbourn, Education and the Human Rights Act 1998, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Jul
A government White Paper proposed a 50 million strategy to harness the potential of advances in genetics for the benefit of patients. It also published its response to a report by the Human Genetics Commission (published in June 2002) on balancing interests in the use of personal genetic data.
Source: Our Inheritance, Our Future - Realising the potential of genetics in the NHS, White Paper Cm 5791 II, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 24.6.03, columns 876-892, TSO | Letter from Secretary of State for Health, 24.6.03
Links: White Paper (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Hansard | NHS press release | Letter of response to HGC | HGC press release | HGC report | MRC press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A joint committee of MPs and peers said that there were eight different aspects of the Criminal Justice Bill which increased the risk of violations of human rights. These included the relaxation of the rule against double jeopardy; new presumptions against granting bail in certain cases; extended powers to take and retain fingerprints and non-intimate samples; and admissibility of evidence of bad character, including previous convictions.
Source: Criminal Justice Bill: Further Report, Eleventh Report (Session 2002-03), HL 118 and HC 724, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Text of Bill | First Committee Report
Date: 2003-Jun
A think tank said that an integrated human rights and equality commission was the preferable option for reform. It also called for a wider interpretation of 'public authority' by the courts, supported by legislative change.
Source: Inquiry into the Definition of Public Authority: Implications for the application of the Human Rights Act, British Institute of Human Rights/King's College London (020 7401 2712)
Links: Report 1 (pdf) | Report 2 (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A joint committee of MPs and peers called for the creation of a Human Rights Commission for the United Kingdom - an independent body for safeguarding and promoting human rights (including equality). It said that public bodies 'do enough to avoid litigation and no more', and had not put respect for individuals' rights at the heart of their practice.
Source: The Case for a Human Rights Commission, Sixth Report (Session 2002-03), HL 67-I and HC 489-I, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Appendices
Date: 2003-Mar
The government began consultation on proposed extensions to the list of public authorities able to gain access to telephone and internet records on individual citizens. It said its preferred approach was to 'restrict significantly' the size of the list, following widespread opposition to proposals originally put to Parliament in the summer of 2002. Human rights campaigners welcomed the government's retreat, but called for tougher safeguards.
Source: Access to Communications Data: Respecting privacy and protecting the public from crime, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 11.3.03, Liberty (020 7403 3888)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | HO press release | Liberty press release | Information Commissioner press release
Date: 2003-Mar
The government tabled an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, allowing police officers to take fingerprints and DNA samples from arrested persons detained at police stations (rather than having to wait until after a suspect has been charged). Human rights campaigners accused the government of seeking to create a national DNA and fingerprint database by stealth.
Source: Press release 27.3.03, Home Office (0870 000 1585) | Press release 27.3.03, Liberty (020 7403 3888)
Links: HO press release | Liberty press release
Date: 2003-Mar
The government began consultation on regulations to prohibit the blacklisting of trade unionists.
Source: Draft Regulations to Prohibit the Blacklisting of Trade Unionists, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500)
Links: Consultation Document (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
The Scottish Executive published a consultation paper setting out the remit, functions, and structure of a Scottish Human Rights Commission.
Source: The Scottish Human Rights Commission: Consultation paper, Scottish Executive, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Consultation Paper | Consultation Paper (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The official data protection watchdog said government proposals on entitlement cards were so widely drawn that it is impossible to conclude that the necessary privacy and data protection safeguards will be in place. It also released a background paper commissioned by it on the wider social implications of the proposals.
Source: Entitlement Cards and Identity Fraud: The Information Commissioner s Response to the Government s Consultation Paper, Information Commissioner (01625 545 700) | Perri 6, Entitlement Cards: Benefits, privacy and data protection risks, costs and wider social implications, Information Commissioner
Links: Response (Word file) | Annex to Response (Word file) | Perri 6 paper (Word file) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The new information commissioner reportedly expressed concern at the possibility of an entitlement card scheme which was used for more than the basic purpose of establishing identity and gaining access to public services. He said any scheme would increase identity theft while failing to tackle fraud.
Source: The Guardian, 8.1.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
The Prime Minister said that the United Kingdom might consider withdrawing from its obligations under the European convention on human rights if the latest measures to reduce the number of asylum seekers failed.
Source: The Guardian, 27.1.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that a local council had acted illegally in passing CCTV footage of a suicidal man to a television company for broadcast.
Source: Peck v. United Kingdom, Application 44647/98, European Court of Human Rights (+33 0 3884 12018)
Links: Judgement | Liberty press release
Date: 2003-Jan
A committee of MPs expressed a number of concerns over the human rights implications of the Criminal Justice Bill, including provisions relating to the admissibility of evidence of bad character and the withholding of a copy of pre-sentencing reports from child defendants aged under 14.
Source: Criminal Justice Bill, Second Report (Session 2002-03), HL 40 and HC 374, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Jan
A think-tank pamphlet argued that immigration is out of control, and that the only way to stop abuses of immigration law and protect the country against the acts of terrorism associated with asylum seeking is to repeal the Human Rights Act.
Source: Myles Harris, Tomorrow is Another Country, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Summary | Press release
Date: 2003-Jan
A think tank argued that the 'chaos' in the asylum and immigration system, and the potential for widespread misuse of public services, make the introduction of entitlement cards an urgent priority. It said that the cost of an entitlement card would be rapidly recouped by a reduction in the 'misuse' of public services.
Source: Response to the Government's Consultation Exercise on Entitlement Cards, MigrationwatchUK (01869 337007)
Links: No link
Date: 2003-Jan
The Lord Chief Justice said: 'The informed view is that making the European Convention part of [the United Kingdom's] domestic law has proved to be a great success'.
Source: Speech by Lord Woolf, Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, on the occasion of the opening of the judicial year at the European Court of Human Rights, 23.1.03
Links: Text of speech
Date: 2003-Jan