Rights "not just for celebrities and terrorists"
5 Jun 07
Institute report claims Human Rights Act bringing about much needed social change
The British Institute of Human Rights has published a report which it says demonstrates that the Human Rights Act has made a real difference to vulnerable and disadvantaged people in society.
"The Human Rights Act: Changing Lives" argues that the legislation has had more impact outside the law courts by achieving lasting changes that improve people’s lives.
The report states: “The British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) has long argued that human rights are a powerful tool for improving the delivery of public services and for achieving social change more broadly.
“But to realise their potential, we strongly believe that human rights must shed their legalistic image and be put into practice in everyday life.”
The report quotes from various cases that have successfully used the Act, such as a married, disabled woman from Yorkshire who challenged a care decision by her local authority that meant she would have to sleep apart from her husband. The woman argued that this ignored her right to respect for private and family life.
The Act, according to the report, is too often associated with technical legal arguments or perceived as fuelling spurious claims by terrorists or celebrities.
The report continues: “These case studies reveal a very different picture. They show how groups and people themselves are using not only the letter of the law, but also the language and ideas of human rights to challenge poor treatment and negotiate improvements to services provided by public bodies.
“Giving people the power to use human rights as a check against the state in this way is precisely what the government envisaged when it passed the Act in 1998.
“The case studies cover a wide range of people in a variety of situations. They show how human rights can be used by and on behalf of younger people, older people, victims of domestic violence, parents, asylum seekers, people living with mental health problems, disabled people, and others facing discrimination, disadvantage and exclusion.”
The report says the main learning points from the case studies are:
- the language and ideas of human rights have a dynamic life beyond the courtroom;
- human rights are an important practical tool for people facing discrimination, disadvantage or exclusion;
- the language and ideas of human rights can be used to secure changes to policies, procedures and individual decisions.
The full report is at www.bihr.org .