The Human Rights Act: A Success Story? Introduction
| Date | 01 March 2005 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2005.310_1.x |
| Published date | 01 March 2005 |
| Author | Philip A. Thomas,Luke Clements |
JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY
VOLUME 32, NUMBER 1, MARCH 2005
ISSN: 0263-323X, pp. 1±2
The Human Rights Act: A Success Story? Introduction
Luke Clements* and Philip A. Thomas*
The Human Rights Act 1998 is still an infant: a child whose first five years
have been marked by momentous ± and potentially damaging ± experiences.
The papers in this volume seek to assess its health and prospects for a full
and well balanced development.
Sir Stephen Sedley introduces the collection with a wide ranging review
of the progress and pitfalls that have marked these early years. In his opinion
there is much positive to report concerning this `historic constitutional
project' although much inevitably remains to be done.
The Act is but one strand of a constitutional reform programme that
includes devolution and the reform of the Lord Chancellor's role. As to
devolution, Professors Tom Mullen, Jim Murdoch, and Alan Miller, and
Sarah Craig report on their research concerning the use of Convention law in
the Scottish courts. Professor Christine Bell and Johanna Keenan then take
the analysis across the water to gauge the post-Belfast Agreement Northern
Irish experience through a case study on the right to life. The Welsh
perspective is provided by Ruth Costigan and Professor Philip Thomas with
an account of their research at the `coal face' in the deprived south Wales
valleys' communities. Their conclusions are bleak: that the area is largely an
`HRA-free zone', not least as a consequence of the restructuring of legal aid.
Roger Smith describes the process by which the reform of the Lord
Chancellor's role has surfaced as a key constitutional issue. He considers the
`appallingly handled' upheavals that led to the decision to abolish the LCD
and the challenges that are yet to be addressed. Foremost amongst these is
the establishment of a Commission with power to enforce the fundamental
provisions of the Act. The need for such an institution is considered by
Anthony Lester (Lord Lester of Herne Hill, a principal architect of the Act)
and Lydia Clapinska.
Two issues above all others have dominated the public's perception of the
Act: terrorism and asylum. Professor Conor Gearty analyses the extent to
which the laudable aims of the Act have been subverted by the government's
response to the September 11 attacks. As to the latter, Shami Chakrabarti
1
ßCardiff University Law School 2005. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road,
Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
* Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF1
3NX, Wales
To continue reading
Request your trial