Equality and Human Rights Commission
Overview of the Morning
• EHRC – What we do• Human Rights Inquiry• Making sense of Human Rights• Table sessions
EHRC – a snapshot
• Great Britain’s first National Human Rights Institution with UN ‘A’ status
• Our remit:– Encourage good practice in relation
to human rights
– Promote awareness, understanding & protection of human rights
– Monitor the effectiveness of laws relating to human rights and compliance with equality laws
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Nine teams for nine regions
Human rights – the values
FairnessRespectEqualityDignity
Autonomy
Equality is central to Human Rights, but not the whole story....
Human Rights – the history
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948: first formal statement in modern eraThink of the roots of this: limiting state control
over inhabitants
• European Convention on Human Rights, 1950: making rights binding People can now call on and use rights in the courts
• Human Rights Act, 1998Bringing rights home
Human rights – the law
Human Rights Act 1998• Almost identical to ECHR• Can be used in courts in UK – don’t
have to go Strasbourg• Legislation must be interpreted with
the HRA in mind• Articles are absolute, limited or
qualified
Absolute v non-absolute
• Absolute rights – can never be interfered with
• Limited – can be engaged in certain circumstances
• Qualified – can be balanced for the public good
Human Rights Act 1998Part I: The ConventionArticle 2: Right to lifeArticle 3: Prohibition of
torture (inhuman or degrading treatment)
Article 4: Prohibition of slavery and forced labour
Article 5: Right to liberty and security
Article 6: Right to a fair trialArticle 7: No punishment
without lawArticle 8: Right to respect
for private and family lifeArticle 9: Freedom of
thought, conscience and religion
Article 10: Freedom of expression
Article 11: Freedom of assembly and association
Article 12: Right to marryArticle 14: Prohibition of
discrimination
Part II, First ProtocolArticle 1: Protection of
propertyArticle 2: Right to educationArticle 3: Right to free
elections
What does the Human Rights Act mean for Public Authorities
• It makes it unlawful for public authorities to act in a way that is incompatible with a convention right
• Anyone who feels that a public authority has acted incompatibly with their Convention rights can raise this before an appropriate UK court or tribunal
Taking Legal Action
• Only the ‘victim’ can take a case• Action can only be taken against a
public authority• Time limit is usually 12 months but
depends on the type of proceeding used
Our human rights work so far• Policy:
Effective opposition to Government’s attempts to increase the maximum period of detention without charge for terror suspects to 42 days– Used threat of legal action
• Cases:– R (RJM) v Department for Work and Pensions
• Enforcement:300 matters considered for enforcement action in our first 18 months. – 80% of matters dealt with without need for formal
enforcement proceedings
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Human Rights Inquiry
• Purpose of the Inquiry– Assess the state of human rights
– Consider a culture of human rights & its benefits to individuals
– Focus on human rights approach in public service delivery
– Define a Human Rights Approach
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Findings: Barriers to embedding a Human Rights Approach
Negative and sensationalist media
coverage
Lack of political leadership
Lack of understanding and mainstreaming in policies and practices
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Best practice
• Health and social care
• Local authority services
• Education
• Criminal justice
• NGOs and voluntary organisations
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