Topic Four (1.4): Rights in Context
Introduction
In this topic, you will become familiar with the major milestones in the development of rights in the UK, including the Human Rights Act (1998) and the Equality Act (2010). You will consider the contributions of civil liberties pressure groups, including the work of two contemporary civil liberties pressure groups – Liberty and the Howard League for Penal Reform. You will also explore the debates surrounding the extent to which rights are protected, and the tensions within the UK’s rights-based culture, including the potential for conflict between individual and collective rights.
Read and Make Notes
- Read pages 19 to 22 of Colclough and make notes. Make sure you include examples of tensions between individual and collective rights (including collective rights expressed by the state such as national security) from pages 21 to
Tasks
- Read the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s list of the national and international milestones that have shaped the concept of human rights in Britain over the last 800 years. This will help you set the Human Rights Act (1998) and Equality Act (2010) in context.
- Note down the key provisions of the Human Rights Act from Liberty’s website.
READ – The Human Rights Act (Liberty) Links to an external site.
- Read the short article below about the Freedom of Information Act (2000). Note down the purposes of the Act, how it relates to rights and freedoms, and examples of issues it has helped bring to light.
READ – Freedom of Information Act (Tutor2U) Links to an external site.
- Choose one campaign by Liberty from its website and one from the Howard League for Penal Reform and assess how successful these have been.
EXPLORE – Liberty Campaigns (Liberty) Links to an external site.
EXPLORE – The Howard League Campaigns (Howard League for Penal Reform) Links to an external site.
- Watch the following MASSOLIT lecture and make brief further notes on the extent to which civil and political rights are met in the UK:
- Read the ‘SWOT’ analysis of the UK’s position in protecting human rights and civil liberties, undertaken by Democratic Audit in 2018 (scroll down the webpage to find this).
- Use this analysis and your notes to summarise the arguments for and against the view that the UK’s democracy effectively protects human rights and civil liberties (refer to the case studies and wider reading sections if you wish to develop this summary further).
Case Studies
- Make sure you have completed the tasks above about the two civil liberties pressure groups. It is a REQUIREMENT of the syllabus that you have an understanding of the work of two civil liberties pressure groups.
- It is a good idea to be aware of the Public Order Bill, first introduced into the Commons in May 2022. The government factsheet below outlines the key elements of the Bill. Note that Liberty’s ‘I Have the Right to Protest’ campaign focuses on some of the proposals in this Bill.
READ - Public Order Bill: Factsheet (Gov.UK) Links to an external site.
- You may also wish to consider the impact on civil liberties of the UK government’s response to the recent Covid-19 pandemic. The following opinion pieces from 2021 summarise the various restrictions that were brought in and offer views on their potential longer-term impact:
Wider Reading and Research
- Watch the series of MASSOLIT lectures on Civil Liberties and Human Rights. These lectures focus on the question ‘Civil liberties and human rights have been eroded in recent years. Discuss.’
WATCH – Civil Liberties and Human Rights (MASSOLIT) Links to an external site.
- Read the whole article from the Democratic Audit website on the effectiveness of the UK’s democracy in protecting civil liberties and human rights.
- Review the arguments for and against the introduction of a ‘Bill of Rights’ in the following article:
READ – Whither the Human Rights Act? (Tutor2U) Links to an external site.