Welcome to Open University Students

The new academic year is about to begin for the Open University Law courses. I'll be teaching W200 and W201 courses in Birmingham and Reading. If you have just become one of my students - welcome to the Washminster Blog. One of the objectives of this blog is to explain how the subjects in the law courses relate to what happens in the real world. As someone who works in Parliament (and has worked there for a number of years & has other experience of the academic subjects we will be studying), I can apply theory to practice - and that's what this blog seeks to do.

Of course if you are not one of my OU Students - you are welcome too. I do put in a lot of material related to law, but that is far from the exclusive interest of this blog - as a look back over the last eight years of entries shows.

I like to brighten up posts with pictures, and occasional videos. That may not be possible for the next few days - because of limited access to computing facilities - but there should be some posts reflecting matters in the news.

David

ECHR – Key Rights & Restrictions

What are the key rights in the European Convention on Human Rights? - and when can these be restricted? The answers can be found in the Convention itself - which can be accessed here.

But it can be easy to lose sight of the key points - so I have prepared a hand-out for my Open University W201 students, which reformats the text to highlight what the rights cover - and when States can interfere with them. This is a revision document - so if it is of help to you - or you have friends studying Constitutional & Administrative Law (UK) or Human Rights Law - please feel free to use it, or share this post (Facebook; Twitter; Email - or whatever)

 

Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life

1.    Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2.    There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except

1. such as is in accordance with the law and
2. is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Article 9 – Freedom of thought, conscience and religion

1.    Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

2.    Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs shall be subject only

1. to such limitations as are prescribed by law and
2. are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

Article 10 – Freedom of expression

1.    Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2.    The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to

1. such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and
2. are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

Article 11 – Freedom of assembly and association

1.    Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

2.    No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than

1. such as are prescribed by law and
2. are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of the administration of the State.

·        Do not forget the principle of proportionality – R (on the application of Daly) v Home Secretary [2001] 2 AC 532

 

o   Is the legislative objective sufficiently important to justify limiting a fundamental right?

o   Are the measures taken rationally connected to this objective?

o   Are the measures taken no more than is necessary to accomplish this objective?

 

How well do you know your "Human Rights"?

The European Convention on Human Rights has played an important part in the development of the law in England. While that is obviously true since the passing of the Human Rights Act 1998 (full text available here), it had an important influence since it first came into effect. An article on UK Law online - written in 1997 - states:

"The European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is a treaty signed in 1950 by the then members of the Council of Europe. In this way, it predates the European Communities and Union and arises from a quite different organisation. The two are linked, however, in that adherence to the Convention is now effectively a condition of membership of the EU. Additionally, the European Court of Justice refers to the Convention which influences its decisions, even though the EU is not a member of the Convention. Note that the European Court of Human Rights (described below) is not the same as the European Court of Justice. The judges are different and one sits in Strasbourg, the other on Luxembourg.

 

The UK was a founding member of the Convention and was very influential in its design. It was amongst the first states to ratify the treaty. It has allowed individuals to make complaints to the European Commission on Human Rights since 1966. The influence of the Convention has been growing in the UK in the past decade or so. (1980s-1990s) This is partly because the European Court of Human Rights has become a more energetic body...."

It is worth looking at the ECHR and identifying the specific rights arising from each article. The Key Section is 'Section 1 - Rights and Freedoms' which includes Articles 2-18. If you are revising for an exam in Constitutional & Administrative Law; Human Rights Law, or the Open University's W201 "The Individual and the State" - it might be worth drawing up a table (Spreadsheets like Excel are so useful for this purpose) setting out for each Article - the rights (brief phrase - then description); any limitations; key cases (distinguish those from the European Court of Human Rights; and cases decided in the English courts). Textbooks or course manuals are a great help here - they highlight the key points.

Could you give a brief talk on the subject matter of each right? (You might be able to persuade a fellow student; or a partner or even your cat - to listen to it. Failing that rehearse the 'talk' as you go for a walk - exercise AIDS revision).

It's also important to do a similar table and talk for key provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Finally, be prepared to discuss the value (or otherwise) of the Human Rights Act & the ECHR. Prepare a briefing paper for yourself.

You might find the following briefing papers from the House of Commons Library useful
Report of the Commission on a Bill of Rights
UK Cases at the European Court of Human Rights since 1975
EU membership and ECHR
Deportation of individuals who may face a risk of torture