Human rights act what a joke!

[Badlittlepup]

You are missing the point.

 

Al that is different is that it can now be applied by judges in this country. If a decision is made under the HRA now, the same decision would have been made by the european courts previously. The only difference is that there used to be an extra stage to get to the same result.

 

That's a jaw dropping over simplification. The Act made it illegal for public bodies to act in a way which is incompatible with the Convention, unless the specific wording of an Act of Parliament means they have no other choice. It also requires UK judges take account of decisions of the Strasbourg court, and to interpret legislation in ways which were compatible with the convention.

 

None of these duties or conditions applied before - it became the overarching principle which must be considered in all cases which was never the case before the act. The convention was simply considered if it did go to the court of human rights which is unusual, not in day to day British cases. It legislated so that every British law should take these rights into accounts and that they MUST be considered in ALL cases - not just human rights cases which was the case before the act.

[Badlittlepup]

Oh - and lest I forget - the gagging of the press which has effectively created a situation where the wealthy can gag the press but the ordinary man on the street has little protection. Very 'universal' human rights hey?