A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers welcomed measures in the Equality Bill which provided additional protection against discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, sexual orientation, and gender.
Source: Equality Bill, Fourth Report (Session 2005-06), HL 89 and HC 766, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Dec
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that the definition of terrorism needed to be changed for the purposes of many government anti-terror measures, if they were to avoid incompatibility with human rights standards.
Source: Counter-Terrorism Policy and Human Rights: Terrorism Bill and related matters, Third Report (Session 2005-06), HL 75 and HC 561, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Dec
The Terrorism Bill was given a third reading. MPs voted to reject a proposal in the Bill to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge, and instead backed a proposal to extend the detention time limit from the existing 14 days to 28 days.
Source: Terrorism Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 10 November 2005, columns 492-553, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | Home Office press release | Amnesty press release
Date: 2005-Nov
A report said that the use of personal data by government offered enormous benefits, with the potential to create more efficient and accessible public services. But the government needed to strike the right balance between promoting greater access to personal data and protecting the individual. It recommended adopting the concept of citizens owning their own data and exercising control over how and when it was used.
Source: Better Use of Personal Information: Opportunities and risks, Council for Science and Technology/Department of Trade and Industry (020 7215 6518)
Links: Report | CST press release
Date: 2005-Nov
An independent analysis of the proposed national identity cards scheme concluded that the costing methodology produced by the Home Office was 'robust and appropriate' for the existing stage of development.
Source: Home Office ID Cards Programme: Cost methodology and cost review, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Extract | Home Office press release
Date: 2005-Nov
The Identity Cards Bill was given a third reading. The Bill proposed a compulsory national identity cards scheme, to be introduced in phases.
Source: Identity Cards Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 18 October 2005, columns 717-813, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC Library research paper (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
A report by a committee of peers said that the Identity Cards Bill should be amended to secure that the extension of the scheme to the entire population would require further primary legislation.
Source: Identity Cards Bill, Third Report (Session 2005-06), HL 44, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Oct
The government announced that a 30 stand-alone identity card would be introduced (separate from a passport).
Source: Press release 11 October 2005, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release
Date: 2005-Oct
The Scottish Executive published a Bill to establish an independent Commissioner to promote awareness, understanding of and respect for human rights in Scotland.
Source: Scottish Commissioner for Human Rights Bill, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill (pdf) | Explanatory notes (pdf) | Policy memorandum (pdf) | SE press release
Date: 2005-Oct
A think-tank report analyzed opportunities for public authorities to implement human rights principles more effectively, with a view to improving the provision of public services, and the ways in which such developments could be measured and encouraged.
Source: Frances Butler, Improving Public Services: Using a Human Rights Approach, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2005-Jul
A new book warned of the threat to individual identity, privacy and the integrity of personal information, from the explosion in data capture and use by a wide range of organizations.
Source: Susanne Lace, The Glass Consumer: Life in a surveillance society, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Jun
The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture said that the situation of some detainees in the United Kingdom previously held under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act "could be considered as amounting to inhuman and degrading treatment".
Source: Report to the Government of the United Kingdom on the Visit to the United Kingdom Carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 14 to 19 March 2004, Council of Europe (+33 388 413939)
Links: Report | UK Government response | Amnesty press release
Date: 2005-Jun
The Council of Europe published a report on the human rights performance of the United Kingdom. The report criticized numerous areas of government policy, including the use of control orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, its treatment of asylum seekers and young offenders, prison conditions, and the increasing use of anti-social behaviour orders.
Source: Report by Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights, on his Visit to the United Kingdom 4th?12th November 2004, Council of Europe (+33 0388 412033)
Links: Report (Word file) | JUSTICE press release (pdf) | Law Society press release | Refugee Action press release | CPAG press release
Date: 2005-Jun
The independent information commissioner described the proposed identity cards scheme as "excessive and disproportionate". He claimed that "function creep" would see demands grow for access to a person's data trail, and increasing demands for an individual to reveal their identity.
Source: Statement June 2005, Information Commissioner (01625 545 700)
Links: Text of statement (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jun
A report said that if all the costs associated with the proposed identity cards scheme were borne by citizens, the cost per card (plus passport) would be around 170 on the lowest cost basis, and 230 on the median estimate. It set out an alternative scheme that would still incorporate biometrics, but would be simpler to implement and radically cheaper; it would also give citizens far more control over who could access data about them, and hence would be more likely to win positive public and industry support.
Source: The Identity Project: An assessment of the UK Identity Cards Bill and its implications, Department of Information Systems/London School of Economics and Political Science (020 7955 7655)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | LSE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jun
The Identity Cards Bill was given a second reading, on a reduced government majority (down from 67 to 31).
Source: Identity Cards Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28 June 2005, columns 1151-1256, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | JUSTICE briefing (pdf) | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jun
The government reintroduced an Identity Cards Bill (previously lost due to the general election). The Bill proposed a compulsory national identity cards scheme, to be introduced in phases. From 2008, applicants for a new passport would also receive an identity card.
Source: Identity Cards Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Law Society press release | Liberty press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-May
A Bill to introduce identity cards was dropped due to lack of parliamentary time before the general election.
Source: Identity Cards Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Apr
A new book examined the practical impact of the Human Rights Act 1998. It asked whether a 'human rights culture' was emerging, and whether human rights could come to be seen as central to communal life.
Source: Colin Harvey (ed.), Human Rights in the Community: Rights as agents for change, Hart Publishing (01865 245533)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Apr
The derogation by the United Kingdom from the European Convention on Human Rights, made by the government in 2001, was removed. This followed the repeal of detention provisions in the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which were replaced by control orders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.
Source: The Human Rights Act 1998 (Amendment) Order 2005, Statutory Instrument 2005/1071, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Statutory Instrument
Date: 2005-Apr
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers evaluated a government review of the United Kingdom's international human rights obligations. It criticized the failure to ratify a number of instruments.
Source: Review of International Human Rights Instruments, Seventeenth Report (Session 2004-05), HL 99 and HC 264, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Mar
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers expressed doubts over the compatibility of the Prevention of Terrorism Bill with the European Convention on Human Rights.
Source: Prevention of Terrorism Bill, Tenth Report (Session 2004-05), HL 68 and HC 334, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Mar
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that the Equality Bill (establishing a Commission for Equality and Human Rights) was the most important measure for the advancement of human rights since the Human Rights Act.
Source: Equality Bill, Sixteenth Report (Session 2004-05), HL 98 and HC 497, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Mar
The government published a Prevention of Terrorism Bill, setting out a system of control orders for suspected terrorists. The Bill was given a second and third reading. The Bill gave the Home Secretary powers to make control orders with a range of conditions, including a ban on internet or mobile phone use, restrictions on movement and travel, restrictions on associations with named individuals, curfews, and tagging. The government also published a series of discussion papers, setting out the nature of the terrorism threat, and the government response. Human rights campaigners called for the withdrawal of the Bill, criticizing it as a grave threat to human rights and to the rule of law.
Source: Prevention of Terrorism Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 22 February 2005, columns 151-169, TSO | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 23 February 2005, columns 333-442, TSO | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28 February 2005, columns 663-788, TSO | Press release 28 February 2005, Amnesty International UK (020 7814 6241)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | Hansard Second Reading | Hansard Third Reading | Home Office press release | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | ACPO press release | Amnesty press release | JUSTICE Briefing (pdf) | Liberty Briefing (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
A Bill to introduce identity cards was given a third reading.
Source: Identity Cards Bill, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 10 February 2005, columns 1677-1756, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC Library research paper (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that powers in the Drugs Bill to compulsorily test offenders for drugs at the point of arrest, and enforce intervention orders, could breach article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which allowed the right to respect for private life.
Source: Scrutiny: Third Progress Report, Seventh Report (Session 2004-05), HL 47 and HC 333, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2005-Feb
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers expressed concern about the compatibility of provisions of the Identity Cards Bill with the right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and with the right to non-discrimination in the protection of the Convention rights under Article 14.
Source: Identity Cards Bill, Fifth Report (Session 2004-05), HL 35 and HC 283, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2005-Feb
A think-tank pamphlet argued against identity cards. It said that they would not address the real problem in tackling organized crime, terrorism and illegal immigration - which was not identifying suspects, but proving them guilty or removing them. Identity cards simply diverted resources away from this area.
Source: Peter Lilley MP, Identity Crisis: The case against ID cards, Bow Group (020 7431 6400)
Links: Pamphlet (pdf)
Date: 2005-Feb
A report reviewed the operation of the forensic DNA database in England and Wales. It considered the potential benefits of the database, along with the concerns over privacy and human rights that it raised. It concluded that more public involvement, transparency and accountability were needed in decisions about the database.
Source: Kristina Staley, The Police National DNA Database: Balancing crime detection, human rights and privacy, GeneWatch UK (01298 871898)
Links: Report (pdf) | GeneWatch press release
Date: 2005-Jan