The Human Rights Act - 3299 Words

â€Å"What are we to make then of the promise of the Human Rights Act that it would provide for better protection of civil liberties?† KD Ewing The Futility of the Human Rights Act (2004) Public Law Background to the Human Rights Act (HRA) The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) was granted royal assent on the 9th November 1998, however, it was not fully implemented until the 2nd of October 2000. Previous to the implementation of the HRA , anyone who wanted to challenge the decision of the UK Government for non-compliance with the European Convention of Human Rights had to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which is situated in Strasbourg, France. An individual could only go to ECtHR once they had established that†¦show more content†¦An example of this prior to the HRA , can be seen in the telephone-tapping case of Malone v UK taken to the ECtHR, which led to the enactment of the Interception of Communications Act with provision now contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act . The labour government bill stated, ‘the time has come to enable people to enforce their Convention rights against the state in the British courts ... In other words to bring the rights home. ’ The Labour Party emphasised that their aim was for the incorporation of the HRA to be boarder and deeper than just saving time and money . Within the second reading of the Bill the Lord Chancellor said that the incorporation of the Convention rights through the proposed HRA will: ‘Deliver a modern reconciliation, of the inevitable tension between the democratic right of the majority to exercise political power and the democratic need of individuals and minorities to have their human rights secured.’ When drafting the HRA it was decided that some articles of the ECHR would not be included, such as Article 1 (Respecting Rights) and Article 13 (Right to an Effective Remedy). Parliament believed that it was not essential to include these articles within the HRA , as the ECHR are protected by the domestic courts by the enactment of the HRA,