14 Has the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into British statute law fundamentally altered the role of the judiciary in British politics?

The ECHR and its effect on the UK Judiciary

The UK legislation incorporated the provisions of the ECHR or European Convention on Human Rights , with the enactment of the 1998 HRA or human Rights Act . This measure imposed a grave responsibility on the English judiciary , with which it was in the least experienced . Every individual in the UK has certain rights and this new legislation compels the courts to decide whether any of these rights have been trampled upon by the different measures adopted by the UK government

In the process of

this exercise , the judiciary has to scrutinize even the legislative actions of Parliament , and it has to analyze the effect of the acts of the state on individuals or groups . As such , the national courts , while conducting judicial reviews , had concentrated on whether the acts and rulings of government institutions and officials had been within the boundaries prescribed by the extant legislation . In this endeavour , the UK courts had , in general , ignored such transgressions by the Parliament

The enlargement of the scope of their rulings had proved to be quite a daunting task for the judiciary . In addition , section 6 of the Human Rights Act , requires the courts to conform to the rights provided by the ECHR . Any incompatibility with these rights requires the specific sanction of Parliament . Consequently , the courts have to conduct inquiries that are protective in nature and not prosecutorial

The Human Rights Act is efficiently implemented in the UK and it cannot be replaced by a separate Bill of Rights . The UK courts have greater flexibility in pronouncing verdicts and this was enabled by the HRA . The HRA also enabled the UK courts to function along the lines of the ECtHR The decisions of the UK courts , in the context of human rights , will undoubtedly have an important influence on the jurisprudence of the ECtHR . Thus , the UK is now enjoying the full advantage of the margin of appreciation provided by the Strasbourg court

The provisions of the ECHR have been integrated with the British law through the Human Rights Act . Under section 4 of the HRA , the House of Lords and the Court of Appeal can derogate from the ECHR by declaring incompatibility with the ECHR . However , national courts are not permitted to declare statutes as incompatible with the ECHR . In the event if any national court declaring a statute as being in conflict with the ECHR or in the event the ECtHR specifying that certain statutes are in conflict with the ECHR , the government can rescind or amend such conflicting statutes , under the provisions of sections 10 and 11 . Section 12 of the HRA requires both the Houses of Parliament to pass a resolution , which seeks to implement such remedial s of the government , which seeks to amend or to repeal a conflicting statute However , in cases of seek the necessary approval

In addition , there are other requirements to be fulfilled . First , under section 3 , the government must adopt a procedure to...