Table of Contents INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3 MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3 CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................5 REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
INTRODUCTION The human rights are often considered as the basic freedoms and rights that are given to all the people across the world from the time of their birth and remains with them till their death. These belong to the individualsfor a fact that they are the humans and provide protection to them especially when they feel neglect, isolated or abused. These rights cannot be deprived from them in any manner so that peace is maintained in the country (Williams, 2016). This report is based on the argument for and against the need of Human Rights Act, 1998 together with the own opinion. MAIN BODY The Human Rights Act, 1998 was designed by the Parliament of UK with an aim to incorporate the rights given in European Convention on Human Rights. The Act provides to take the relief in UK court for the breach of any convention right instead of going to European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The judges of UK courts are not allowed to over ride the provisions of European convention but to make it compatible with the National legislation. Arguments for the need of Human Rights The Human Rights Act, 1998 was designed with the purpose of making the public bodies bound to protect and respect the human rights of the people. Human rights are those rights which cannot be taken away from an individual to protect its dignity and personal liberty. The international bodies or commission have enacted the laws through conventions which every country who is signatory to that particular body is bound to enact in its state. UK is a signatory to Council of Europe subject to which UK has enacted the law called Human Rights Act, 1998 which is applicable in whole country. In order provide respect and dignity to a human being to live a respectful life, human rights are given to all. These rights are different from fundamental rights and covers those rights which are unpublished or uncovered in order to secure justice to them. It helps in dealing with the crimes and also helps in strengthening the judge's power to render justice equally to all. In special circumstances like emergency, the fundamental rights of the people may become unenforceable for a particular period but the courts have no power to make the human rights unenforceable rather people are always free to exercise their human rights (Amos, 2016).
The human rights protect not only the citizens but also an asylum seeker or foreigner which means that an individual can exercise its human rights anywhere in the world and this Act bound the public authority of every nation to secure the rights of every person irrespective of their nationality, gender, race, etc. In case ofCommisiioner of Police of metropolis v. DSD and another, the facts were that the police had violated the human rights of two victims by not making a proper investigationwhich resulted in degrading and inhuman treatment with a woman. The Supreme court held that police are accountable for not protecting the human rights under the said Act. This judgement showed that even the crime was committed by the private citizen but still state is accountable to it. Argument against the need of human rights The human rights are the basic rights which are given to all irrespective of their gender, nationality, etc. There is no need for the separate human rights when the state provides fundamental rights to its citizens. By enacting a law on human rights, this may create a hustle and over riding effect between fundamental rights and human rights. The UK has an unwritten Constitution but the rights are secured to them through different legislations enacted by the Parliament and people freely enjoy their fundamental rights. Despite not having written fundamental rights, people exercise their rights freely, then there should not be any need to enact a separate law on human rights. The enactment of this Human Rights Act have overburdened the work of judiciary as they now need to pass the judgement or make an interpretation of any law which are compatible with the human rights. All the people in UK are entrusted with the basic rights that protect their personal liberty and dignity in order to live smoothly. Prior to enactment of this law in 1998, the rights of the people were protected. Crimes like domestic violence, concerns of LGBT people and migrant still prevails now also after the enactment of this legislation (Jones, 2016.). There is no such difference made after enforcing the Human Rights Act, 1998. What has been effected with this is thatthethethreepillarsofthecountry,thatislegislature,executiveandjudiciaryare overburdened withtheir work of making the decisionswhich are compatible with the human rights. The fundamental rights alone were protecting the people but after coming into force of Human Rights Act, there have been increase in overriding effect on the other laws while interpreting it. Some people tend to misuse their rights in order to take benefits, which may
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include the higher authorities as well the minority groups who misuse their rights In order to fulfil their selfish motives(Fairclough, 2019). For example, the lower caste people misuse their rights in order to take advantage such as reservation which affect the right of other deserving people. Own views According to my perception, human rights are the essential rights of an individual. Where ever an individual goes, he carries its right with him and no authority has right to abridge or deprive them of these rights. The Human Rights Act, 1998ensures that the basic needs of the people are met like food, shelter, clothes, etc. This law gives strength to people to stand against the corruption and abuse. It gives confidence to them that they deserve a certain level of dignity from the society. This act ensures rights to everyone and provide every kind of right like freedom to speak, right to equal pay and work opportunities, education, pollution free environment and what not. According to me, there must be strict application of human rights and the public authorities must also implement them in a strict manner in order to prohibit its misuse. Fundamental rights alone cannot protect the society rather it can become unenforceable when the government wishes like at the time of emergency, but human rights are of such nature that it cannot be deprived from anyone. So the enactment of Human Rights Act is essential and serves the purpose for which it was made. CONCLUSION From the above report, it is concluded that human rights are the necessary and basic rights which cannot be taken away from anyone. These are given to everyone as a benefit of being a human and stays with the person till its death. The Human Rights Act, 1998 was enacted with a purpose to incorporate the rights given in European Convention on Human Rights. It is necessary to protect and respect the rights of an individual (Hunt, 2019). But on the other hand, its enactment may not be that much necessary as citizens in UK enjoy their fundamental rights which are almost similar to the human rights.
REFERENCES Books and Journals Hunt, P., 2019. How to advance social rights without jeopardising the Human Rights Act 1998.The Political Quarterly.90(3). pp.393-401. Fairclough, T., 2019.The Human Rights Act 1998 in constitutional context: the common law, the rule of law, and human rights(Doctoral dissertation, University of Cambridge). Jones, E., 2016. Defining a Public Body: When Does Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 Apply?.Oxford Journal of Law and Religion.5(3). pp.613-617. Amos, M., 2016. Proposals for the Reform of Sections 3 and 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998.Queen Mary School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper, (238). Williams, G., 2016. Global focus: United Kingdom: The UK'Human Rights Act'debate.LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal.(21). p.22.