An article examined the state of human rights protection in the European Union following the Treaty of Lisbon (which made the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding, and provided that the EU should accede to the European Convention on Human Rights). Human rights protection had became one of the most significant areas of EU law, exerting a crucial impact on the EU's relationships with its member states.
Source: Sionaidh Douglas-Scott, 'The European Union and human rights after the Treaty of Lisbon', Human Rights Law Review, Volume 11 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
An article examined what conception of equality the European Court of Human Rights should embrace in order to adequately address the harmfulness of stereotypes, focusing on gender case law.
Source: Alexandra Timmer, 'Toward an anti-stereotyping approach for the European Court of Human Rights', Human Rights Law Review, Volume 11 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
The equality and human rights watchdog published a set of indicators that brought together information and evidence for analyzing and assessing human rights.
Source: Jean Candler, Holly Holder, Sanchita Hosali, Anne Maree Payne, Tiffany Tsang, and Polly Vizard, Human Rights Measurement Framework: Prototype panels, indicator set and evidence base, Research report 81, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Dec
An article examined the sources of human rights in the European Union legal order.
Source: Robert Schutze, 'Three "Bills of Rights" for the European Union', Yearbook of European Law, Volume 30 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
An article examined how the governance-related role of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union revealed a type of monitoring best understood as 'surveillance' – challenging the assumption that the agency was a 'beacon on fundamental rights' and a model of apolitical progress.
Source: Bal Sokhi-Bulley, 'The Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union: a new panopticism', Human Rights Law Review, Volume 11 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
A new book examined the co-operation on minority rights in Europe between the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Council of Europe. Although co-operation had delivered largely positive change for accession countries, challenges remained for minorities in Europe and the regime's future operation.
Source: David Galbreath and Joanne McEvoy, The European Minority Rights Regime: Towards a theory of regime effectiveness, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Dec
A report examined the relationship between equality work and work on human rights in Europe, and between the bodies with responsibilities in each of these areas.
Source: Equality Bodies and National Human Rights Institutions: Making the link to maximise impact, Equinet (European Network of Equality Bodies)
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Dec
An article said that the changes made by the Treaty of Lisbon for the protection of human rights meant that the European Union was moving 'inexorably' to a general human rights competence. That competence, however, would necessarily be shared with the member states: worries about the Union over-reaching itself in this field were misplaced given the increased respect for the principle of subsidiarity in the Treaty.
Source: Robin White, A new era for human rights in the European Union?, Yearbook of European Law, Volume 30 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Dec
A report called for a fundamental overhaul of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 in order to protect the right of individual privacy from unnecessary, unwarranted, and unchecked state intrusion.
Source: Eric Metcalfe, Freedom from Suspicion: Surveillance reform for a digital age, JUSTICE
Links: Report | JUSTICE press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2011-Nov
A report examined the impact and implementation of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights with respect to three EU home affairs agencies.
Source: Elspeth Guild, Sergio Carrera, Leonhard den Hertog, and Joanna Parkin, Implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Its Impact on EU Home Affairs Agencies, Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels)
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
A report set out the coalition government's position on the implementation of adverse human rights judgments from the European Court of Human Rights and the domestic courts during 2010-11.
Source: Responding to Human Rights Judgments: Report to the Joint Committee on Human Rights on the government?s response to human rights judgments 2010-11, Cm 8162, Ministry of Justice, TSO
Links: Report | HRW press release
Date: 2011-Sep
A government-appointed commission sought views on whether there was a need for a Bill of Rights; and, if so, what it should contain, and how it should apply.
Source: Do We Need a UK Bill of Rights?, Commission on a Bill of Rights
Links: Discussion paper | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Aug
A report for the equal rights watchdog examined emerging threats to information privacy, focusing on the activities of the state. It said that existing privacy laws and regulation did not adequately uphold human rights, and that fundamental reform was required. It identified two principal areas of concern: the state's handling of personal data, and the use of surveillance by public bodies.
Source: Charles Raab and Benjamin Goold, Protecting Information Privacy, Research Report 69, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Links: Report | EHRC press release
Date: 2011-Aug
An article examined whether children's rights education had the power to improve educational outcomes for socially disadvantaged children in particular. Fully implemented children's human rights education, among its other benefits, was found to be one possible means of narrowing the gap between socially disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.
Source: Katherine Covell, Brian Howe, and Jillian Polegato, 'Children's human rights education as a counter to social disadvantage: a case study from England', Educational Research, Volume 53 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-May
A study looked at the extent to which the general measures of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child had been realized in the United Kingdom. Both the UK government and the devolved administrations had taken significant steps to implement the Convention: but there was still 'a long way to go' before these standards were fully met. A linked report summarized a study of the position in 5 European countries (Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Sweden, and the UK).
Source: Louise King et al., Governance Fit for Children: To what extent have the general measures of implementation of the CRC been realised in the UK, Save the Children | Sandy Ruxton, Governance Fit for Children: To what extent have the general measures of implementation of the UNCRC been realised in five European countries, Save the Children
Links: UK report | European report
Date: 2011-May
The coalition government began consultation on a draft report on the United Kingdom's implementation of the United Nations Convention on Rights for Disabled People since July 2009.
Source: Draft UK Initial Report: On the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Office for Disability Issues
Links: Consultation document | Annex
Date: 2011-May
The Supreme Court ruled that the police policy of retaining the DNA of everyone arrested was unlawful. However, because of draft legislation in Parliament, the Court declined to order the police to implement a lawful scheme before the Bill had been enacted.
Source: R (on the application of GC) (FC) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, UKSC 21 (2011), United Kingdom Supreme Court
Links: Judgement | EHRC press release | Liberty press release | UKHR blog
Date: 2011-May
A new book examined contemporary debates in relation to the human rights of children. It considered a range of interpretations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and some of the debates generated by the challenges of implementation.
Source: Antonella Invernizzi and Jane Williams (eds.), The Human Rights of Children: From visions to implementation, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-May
A report highlighted an 'implementation gap' in relation to human rights in Europe. Standards on human rights had been agreed at European and international level, and many had been integrated into national law: but they were not consistently enforced.
Source: Thomas Hammarberg, Human Rights in Europe: No Grounds for Complacency, Council of Europe
Date: 2011-May
An article examined the record of the Welsh Assembly Government in promoting equality and human rights since 1999. Although devolved legislatures had the potential to tailor equalities policies to meet local needs more effectively, progress might be arrested by context-specific factors.
Source: Teresa Rees and Paul Chaney, 'Multilevel governance, equality and human rights: evaluating the first decade of devolution in Wales', Social Policy and Society, Volume 10 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Apr
An article examined the political context that had led to the rise of the equality and human rights agenda; the competing conceptualizations of equality, and their operationalization within social policy; and the progress that had been made towards achieving a more equal society.
Source: Sheila Riddell and Nick Watson, 'Equality and human rights in Britain: principles and challenges', Social Policy and Society, Volume 10 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Apr
A briefing paper examined plans to reform the proceedings of the European Court of Human Rights.
Source: Vaughne Miller, The European Convention on Human Rights and the Court of Human Rights: Issues and Reforms, Standard Note SN/IA/5936, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2011-Apr
A think-tank report said that a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that convicted prisoners had the right to vote had put it 'at loggerheads' with the United Kingdom parliament and, hence, the will of the British people. It called for urgent reform of human rights legislation to keep European judges from deciding British law.
Source: Dominic Raab, Strasbourg in the Dock: Prisoner voting, human rights & the case for democracy, Civitas
Links: Civitas press release
Date: 2011-Apr
An article examined the success and distinctiveness of the Human Rights Act 1998, and proposed ways to address its main structural weaknesses.
Source: Stephen Gardbaum, 'How successful and distinctive is the Human Rights Act? An expatriate comparatist's assessment', The Modern Law Review, Volume 74 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Mar
A briefing paper set out the existing position regarding prisoners and the franchise.
Source: Isobel White and Vaughne Miller, Prisoners? Voting Rights, Standard Note SN/PC/01764, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2011-Mar
The first report was published on the operation of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Source: 2010 Report on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release | EP-LGBT Group press release
Date: 2011-Mar
The equality and human rights watchdog published a scorecard that summarized progress by the United Kingdom in relation to United Nations human rights treaties.
Source: UN Treaty Monitoring Scorecard, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Date: 2011-Mar
The Protection of Freedoms Bill was published. The Bill was designed to end 'unwarranted state intrusion' into private lives. Measures included:
• An end to routine monitoring under a radically reformed vetting and barring scheme for people working with children and vulnerable adults (following a review).
• The scrapping of 'Section 44' powers, which had been used to stop and search innocent people.
• The permanent reduction of the maximum period of pre-charge detention for terrorist suspects to 14 days.
• DNA samples and fingerprints of innocent people to be deleted from police databases (following a review).
• The removal of out-of-date convictions for consensual acts by gay men.
• Householders to be protected from local authority enquiries in relation to (for example) school catchment areas.
• An end to the fingerprinting of children in schools without parental consent.
Source: Protection of Freedoms Bill, Home Office, TSO | Vetting & Barring Scheme Remodelling Review: Report and Recommendations, Home Office/Department of Health/Department for Education | Sunita Mason (Independent Advisor for Criminality Information Management), A Common Sense Approach: A review of the criminal records regime in England and Wales, Home Office
Links: Bill | Explanatory notes | Vetting and Barring review | Home Office press release | DE press release | Liberal Democrats press release | ATL press release | BHA press release | Information Commissioner press release | LGF press release | Manifesto Club press release | NAHT press release | Nuffield Council on Bioethics press release | Privacy International press release | REC press release | Scout Association press release | Stonewall press release | TUC press release | UNISON press release | Volunteering England press release | Personnel Today report | Children & Young People Now report | Community Care report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Feb
A think-tank report said that the United Kingdom should withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights (and the European Convention on Human Rights) unless it underwent 'significant reform' within two years. The report recommended a new constitutional settlement that guaranteed the place of core human rights in national life, while helping to check judicial activism and protect parliamentary democracy.
Source: Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, Bringing Rights Back Home: Making human rights compatible with parliamentary democracy in the UK, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | JUSTICE press release | UKHR Blog press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2011-Feb
A new book examined the role that non-governmental organizations played in developing the European Convention on Human Rights as a mechanism that could contribute to social change.
Source: Loveday Hodson, NGOs and the Struggle for Human Rights in Europe, Hart Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Feb
An article examined the impact of the Human Rights Act on the House of Lords, drawing on a database of judgments from 1994 to 2007.
Source: Thomas Poole and Sangeeta Shah, 'The Law Lords and human rights', The Modern Law Review, Volume 74 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Jan
A report examined national privacy/data protection laws and regulations in Europe, together with other laws or developments with and impact on privacy. There had been a decline in privacy protection across Europe, and a steep increase in state surveillance over the lives of individuals.
Source: European Union: Privacy Profile, Privacy International
Links: Report | UK report | Privacy International press release
Date: 2011-Jan