The Human Rights Act: Background

The Human Rights Act

In this course, Professor Merris Amos explores the 1998 Human Rights Act in the context of present debates over the replacement of this Act with a new UK Bill of Rights. In the first module, Professor Amos offers some important contextual information on the 1998 Human Rights Act, before moving on in the second module to outline its key features. In the third module, Professor Amos discusses the relationship between the Human Rights Act and the concept of parliamentary sovereignty, drawing on some key recent case studies to structure the discussion. In the fourth and fifth modules, Professor Amos covers the two key rights protections in the UK – the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy – again drawing on case studies for analytical and illustrative purposes. Finally, Professor Amos offers some concluding thoughts on the current debate around the UK potentially overturning the 1998 Human Rights Act and adopting a new Bill of Rights, outlining the constitutional issues and political concerns relevant to this debate. This course is particularly relevant for students and teachers of UK Politics, as well as those more generally interested in current constitutional debates.

The Human Rights Act: Background

In this module, Professor Merris Amos offers some important contextual information on the 1998 Human Rights Act, focusing in particular on: (i) the Human Rights Act as the means by which the European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated into UK law; (ii) why this was deemed necessary, including the UK’s record before the European Court of Human Rights from the 1960s onwards; (iii) party opposition to new statutes on human rights, including debates around the power of judges; (iv) New Labour, “Bringing rights home”, and constitutional reform.