A report examined whether the idea of constitutional responsibilities could be incorporated into the existing human rights framework without jeopardizing fundamental human rights safeguards.
Source: Liora Lazarus, Benjamin Goold, Rajendra Desai and Qudsi Rasheed, The Relationship Between Rights and Responsibilities, Research Report 18/09, Ministry of Justice
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Dec
The government published its response to a report (published in March 2009) that had said that one-quarter of all government databases were unlawful, and should be scrapped or redesigned. It described the methodology underpinning the report as 'opaque and inadequately substantiated'.
Source: Government Response to the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Report: 'Database State', Ministry of Justice
Date: 2009-Dec
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe expressed 'serious concern' over the delay by the United Kingdom in implementing the 2005 judgment of the European Court of Human Rights that denying all convicted prisoners the right to vote breached the Convention.
Source: Press release 8 December 2009, Council of Europe
Links: Council of Europe press release | EHRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Dec
The government began consultation on proposals for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
Source: A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland: Next steps, Northern Ireland Office (028 9052 0700)
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | NIO press release | NIHRC press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that fear of libel action meant that freedom of expression was under threat as never before. Intimidating and out-of-date laws in England were silencing free speech and scientific inquiry.
Source: Jo Glanville and Jonathan Heawood, Speech is Not for Sale: The impact of English libel law on freedom of expression, English PEN and Index on Censorship Links: Report | Index on Censorship press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Nov
The government published its response to a report by the equality and human rights watchdog on the impact of the Human Rights Act. It said that human rights needed to be 'mainstreamed' into the work of all those who provided relevant public services.
Source: Government Response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Human Rights Inquiry Report, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Response | EHRC report
Date: 2009-Nov
The equality and human rights watchdog set out a 3-year plan to preserve the rights in the Human Rights Act and to protect and promote respect for human rights principles.
Source: Our Human Rights Strategy and Programme of Action 2009-2012, Equality and Human Rights Commission (020 3117 0235)
Links: Strategy | EHRC press release
Date: 2009-Nov
The opposition Conservative Party published plans to reduce the role of surveillance and protect the public's privacy. Proposals included: scrapping the national identity register and ContactPoint databases; establishing clear principles for the use and retention of DNA on the national DNA database (including ending the permanent or prolonged retention of innocent people's DNA); and restricting and restraining local council access to personal communications data.
Source: Reversing the Rise of the Surveillance State, Conservative Party (020 7222 9000)
Links: Report | Conservative Party press release
Date: 2009-Sep
An article examined the positions of the leading political parties on the Human Rights Act, and the proposals for a new 'Bill of Rights and Responsibilities'.
Source: Francesca Klug, '"Solidity or wind?" What's on the menu in the Bill of Rights debate?', Political Quarterly, Volume 80 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Aug
The police service inspectorate published an interim report that examined the policing of public protest during the G20 summit in London in April 2009. It said that there was a need for the police to plan and deliver operations that safeguarded the rights of individuals during protests.
Source: Adapting to Protest, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (01527 882000)
Links: Report | HMIC press release | Liberty press release
Date: 2009-Jul
A report by a committee of peers said that the government had paid 'insufficient attention' to a number of points and criticisms in the committee's earlier report on surveillance and data processing, and had underestimated public concern over the issue.
Source: Analysis of the Government's Response to Surveillance: Citizens and the State, Fourteenth Report (Session 2008-09), HL 114, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Response | Peers original report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
The equality and human rights watchdog published the results of an inquiry into the impact of the Human Rights Act after the first ten years of operation. It said that where a human rights approach had been incorporated into public services, both users and providers benefited. The potential benefits had been demonstrated to be 'highly significant' in terms of enhanced service delivery, organizational success, heightened staff morale, and increased participation and enjoyment of human rights by those in receipt of public services. However, much work still remained to be done to give effect to internationally agreed minimum standards.
Source: Human Rights Inquiry, Equality and Human Rights Commission (020 3117 0235)
Links: Report | Literature review | Impact of HRA cases | Good practice report | Inspection experience of HRA | BIHR press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
A survey found that 84 per cent of people said that they wanted human rights enshrined in the law for themselves and their families; and 81 per cent of people saw human rights as important to creating a fairer society. But 80 per cent of those questioned thought that some people took unfair advantage of human rights laws, and 42 per cent agreed with the idea that the only people to benefit from human rights were criminals and terrorists.
Source: Kully Kaur-Ballagan, Sarah Castell, Kate Brough and Heike Friemert, Public Perceptions of Human Rights, Equality and Human Rights Commission (020 3117 0235)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
The government announced (following an internal review) that it had dropped plans for identity cards to be made compulsory: but it said that the national roll-out of a voluntary scheme was being accelerated.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 30 June 2009, columns 11-13WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Home Office press release | Liberty press release | Conservative Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report | FT report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Jun
A United Nations report urged the United Kingdom government to take steps to ensure that the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was given full legal effect in domestic law, that the Covenant rights were made justiciable, and that effective remedies were available for victims of all violations of economic, social, and cultural rights.
Source: Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant: Concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Dependent Territories, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights/United Nations Economic and Social Council (+41 22 917 90 00)
Links: Report | CAP press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
A briefing paper said that government proposals to increase the surveillance of the communications activities of all citizens had 'serious flaws'. The proposals could only work if entirely new laws were passed by Parliament, and if the public could be persuaded that the threats from terrorism and crime were so extensive as to justify ever greater levels of intrusion and expenditure.
Source: Briefing on the Interception Modernisation Programme, LSE Policy Engagement Network/London School of Economics (020 7955 6840)
Links: Briefing | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on the growth of official surveillance. It said that the government needed to strike a balance between the right of the public to privacy, their right to more effective delivery of public services, and their right to protection from crime and terrorism.
Source: Surveillance: Citizens and the State – The Government Response to the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution's Report, Cm 7616, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Peers report
Date: 2009-May
A new book brought together original social-scientific research on human rights. Separate chapters examined the right to health; cultural politics; the role of the United Nations; women and violence; the role of corporations; and labour law.
Source: Rhiannon Morgan and Bryan Turner (eds.), Interpreting Human Rights: Social science perspectives, Routledge (01264 343071)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Apr
The government began consultation on new measures designed to maintain the capability of public authorities to obtain access to communications data. It said that it had dropped plans for a single database of individuals' web use, e-mail traffic and phone calls: but that it would require media, internet, and telecoms companies to make their records available to the police and intelligence services.
Source: Protecting the Public in a Changing Communications Environment, Cm 7586, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Consultation document | Hansard | Home Office press release | ICO press release | Liberty press release | NO2ID press release | Telegraph report | FT report
Date: 2009-Apr
The government published a Green Paper outlining proposals for a Bill of Rights. It said that there was a need for citizens' existing rights to be collected in one place, along with the social responsibilities expected of them in return. 'Key responsibilities' might include: not claiming benefits when able to work, obeying the law, reporting crimes, co-operating with the police, paying taxes, voting, and doing jury service. They could also include parents' duty to look after children, treating public sector workers with respect, and living within 'environmental limits'. The government said that a written statement of 'common values' would boost social cohesion.
Source: Rights and Responsibilities: Developing our constitutional framework, Cm 7577, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Green Paper | Hansard | MOJ press release | JUSTICE press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
An article examined the influence of the European Convention on Human Rights on the legal culture of litigants and judges in Northern Ireland. There had been a dramatic increase in the number of judicial review cases based on the Convention in the years immediately following implementation of the treaty through the Human Rights Act: but judges had been reluctant to issue declarations of incompatibility pursuant to the Human Rights Act.
Source: David Weiden, 'Examining the influence of the European Convention on Human Rights in Northern Ireland courts', The Social Science Journal, Volume 46 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Mar
A report said that one-quarter of all government databases were unlawful, and should be scrapped or redesigned. Storing information led to vulnerable people, such as young black men, lone parents, and children, being victimized.
Source: Ross Anderson et al., Database State: A comprehensive map of UK government databases, Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust (01904 625744)
Links: Report | Summary | Telegraph report | BBC report | Pulse report
Date: 2009-Mar
A new book examined the difference made by culture to the realization of human rights, based on a study of the United Kingdom and United States of America.
Source: Kate Nash, The Cultural Politics of Human Rights: Comparing the US and UK, Cambridge University Press (01223 312393)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Mar
A report reviewed legislation affecting human rights over the period 1999-2009.
Source: Human Rights Legislation Audit, Liberty (020 7403 3888)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that it had found no systematic human rights abuses in the policing of protest: but it had some concerns that could be addressed by legal and operational changes. Making these changes would further protect the rights of people who wished to protest.
Source: Demonstrating Respect for Rights? A human rights approach to policing protest, Seventh Report (Session 2008-09), HC 320 and HL 47, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report examined the loss of human rights in the United Kingdom over the previous 10 years, through (for example) laws allowing 28-day detention without charge, restrictions on protest, and legislation allowing email, telephone, and letter interception.
Source: Umar Azmeh et al., The Abolition of Freedom Act 2009, UCL Student Human Rights Programme for Convention on Modern Liberty (020 7631 2666)
Links: Report | UCL press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Feb
A report by a committee of peers said that electronic surveillance and collection of personal data were 'pervasive' in British society, and threatened to undermine democracy.
Source: Surveillance: Citizens and the State, Second Report (Session 2008-09), HL 18, House of Lords Communications Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | ICO press release | NO2ID press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Feb
The government responded to a report by a joint committee of MPs and peers on a possible Bill of Rights. It expressed concerns about the impact of increased judicial involvement in the area of economic and social rights.
Source: A Bill of Rights for the UK? Government Response to the Committee's Twenty-ninth Report, Third Report (Session 2008-09), HL 15 and HC 145, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Date: 2009-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs examined proposals in the Coroners and Justice Bill. It said that 'close and careful scrutiny' should be given to clauses providing for inquests without juries, and to the scope of powers granted to government to make orders in respect of data-sharing between departments.
Source: Coroners and Justice Bill, Second Report (Session 2008-09), HC 185, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jan
The Coroners and Justice Bill was published, and given a second reading. The Bill was designed to modernize the coroners system (including a 'charter for the bereaved' to ensure that minimum standards of care were given at every stage of the inquest process; provide better protection for witnesses during criminal investigations; create a new Sentencing Council (to supersede the existing Sentencing Guidelines Council) to improve consistency and transparency in sentencing; remove barriers, and strengthen safeguards, to effective data-sharing in support of improved public services and the fight against crime and terrorism; and give statutory authority to the principle that United Kingdom courts should be able to take account of a defendant's previous convictions.
Source: Coroners and Justice Bill, Ministry of Justice, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 26 January 2009, columns 26-125, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Charter for bereaved | Hansard | Hansard (second reading) | MOJ press release (1) | MOJ press release (2) | HOC research brief (1) | HOC research brief (2) | Amnesty press release | NO2ID press release | INQUEST press release | NIHRC press release | Christian Institute press release | Bar Council press release | JUSTICE briefing | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jan