The Human Rights Act 1998 Northern Ireland Act

The Human Rights Act 1998 Northern Ireland Act 1998 Government of Wales Act 1998

The Human Rights Act 1998

The Human Rights Act 1998 It is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on 9 November 1998, and mostly came into force on 2 October 2000.

Rights protection under the Act • Act provides that it is unlawful for a public authority to act in such a way as to contravene Convention rights • the Act also provides a defence for public authorities if their Convention violating act is in pursuance of a mandatory obligation imposed upon them by Westminster primary legislation • The power is restricted to the higher Courts • The Act completely repealed the death penalty in the United Kingdom.

CRITICISM Politicised judges? Journalistic freedom A Bill of Rights for Britain? Left-wing criticism Terrorism

Politicized judges? One of the major criticisms of the Human Rights Act prior to its introduction that it would result in unelected judges making substansive judgments about government policies and "legislating" in their amendments to the common law resulting in an usurpation of Parliament's legislative supremacy.

Journalistic freedom The Human Rights Act was criticised because people's private lives needed protection.

A Bill of Rights for Britain? Howard's successor as Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron thought that the Human Rights Act was a bill of rights for Britain.

Left-wing criticism Some people have argued that the Human Rights Act does not give adequate protection to rights because of the ability for the government to derogate from Convention rights

Terrorism The Human Rights Act was hampering the fight against globalisterrorism in regard control "There a very serious threatto- controversial and I am the first to admit orders: that the means we have of fighting it are so inadequate that we are fighting with one arm tied behind our backs. So I hope when we bring forward proposals in the next few weeks that we will have a little less party politics and a little more support for national security. ” (Former Home Secretary John Reid)

Northern Ireland Act 1998

Northern Ireland Act 1998 What is? • Is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established a devolved legislature for Northern Ireland after decades of direct rule from Westminster. • It repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and established new rules in line with the European Union

Northern Ireland Act 1998 The Act allows for a devolved Northern Ireland Assembly of 108 members Membership of the assembly is subject to a pledge of office Subjects the member to certain requirements with regard to standards and responsibilities

Northern Ireland Act 1998 • Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom until or unless a majority vote in a referendum determines otherwise • The Assembly has been suspended a number of times since 1998, and was re-established on Tuesday 8 th May 2007

Government of Wales Act 1998

Government of Wales Act 1998 The properly title of the Act is: An Act to establish and make provision about the National Assembly for Wales and the offices of Auditor General for Wales and Welsh Administration Ombudsman; to reform certain Welsh public bodies and abolish certain other Welsh public bodies; and for connected purposes.

What does the Act do? • It created a national assembly for Wales • It transferred most of the powers of the Secretary of States for Wales • It made provision for elections to the Assembly • The Act led to the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, after the referendum held in 1997 which narrowly approved devolution.

Secretary of State for Wales He is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales.