The Equality and Human Rights’ Commission response to a proposed UK Bill of Rights: just common sense really
The deadline has recently passed for responding to the Commission on a Bill of Rights consultation titled Do we need a UK Bill of Rights? The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (“EHCR”) submission articulates the common sense and pragmatic position and is in line with IARS’ own response.
In summary, the EHRC and IARS both answer the question with a resounding no. We don’t need a UK Bill of Rights because we already have one, called the Human Rights Act 1998, and if there are to be any modifications of the rights ‘imported’ into UK law by that Act via the European Convention on Human Rights, then they should only be enhanced and not diminished.
Many people may ask why we even have a Commission on a Bill of Rights and why we are having this discussion. It might be said that now isn’t a good time owing to the global economic crisis. But, in reality, or at least in the realm of politics, it seems no time is ever a good time to discuss human rights, so there’s no time like the present.
There are significant challenges with having a debate on a UK bill of rights. One of the central points of both the EHRC and IARS’ responses is that the acute misunderstanding of the Human Rights Act 1998 and of human rights in general means that firstly, it is quite difficult to have a sensible debate on the topic without referring to old wives tales, cats or what the Daily Mail said, and secondly, the topic is often conflated with a nationalistic debate onthe loss of Parliamentary Sovereignty. One simple solution, as both responses suggest, is to educate rather than (re) legislate. IARS has long championed human rights education and in response created its own training programme for young people. The sessions went some way to enabling young people to become tolerant, aware of the role of public authorities and not afraid to challenge violations of the rights that the vast majority of people in the UK and far beyond hold dear – surely no bad thing.
For a summary of more responses, see this useful post made by the UK Human Rights Blog.
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