The Government intended the Human Rights Act 1998 to place human rights at the heart of the way public services are delivered.
In general the Act makes it unlawful for anybody to act in a way which is contrary to the convention, except the primary legislation provides no other choice. The judiciary is also expected to take into account any former judgements or decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and to interpret legislation in a way which is compatible with convention rights. .
Section 3 of the HRA requires laws to be interpreted as far as possible so as to be compatible with human rights. If a law cannot be interpreted to make it human rights compliant, the courts can make 'declarations of incompatibility' (section 4 of the HRA). These declarations are statements that a law is not compatible with human rights. Judges in the UK cannot overturn primary legislation if they find that it is not human rights compliant, although they can overturn secondary legislation.
If a declaration of incompatibility is made, the Government can then decide whether to amend the legislation in order to make it compatible with human rights. There is a special Parliamentary procedure for amending legislation declared incompatible under the HRA (section 10 and schedule 2).
Rights Protected By the ECHR through the HRA.
The rights and freedom of individuals are protected by the convention. The Convention is comprised of three sections. The first section contains all rights which signatory states have to uphold. Protected rights refer to: .
Dignity of a person (the right to life, Art.2; Prohibition of torture, Art.3; freedom of slavery, Art.4; right to liberty, Art.5).
Procedure before the courts of law (right to fair trail, Art.6; prohibition of retroactive criminal legislation, Art.7; right to an effective legal remedy, Art.13).
Personal life (right to private life, Art.8; freedom of thought, Art.9; right to marry, Art.
