Human Rights In The Community: Rights As Agents For Change (Human Rights Law in Perspective)

284 Pages·2005·0.95 MB·English

by  Colin J. Harvey

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HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE COMMUNITY
There has been a considerable focus in the last few years on the meaning of the
Human Rights Act 1998 and its real and potential impact on judges and lawyers.
Much has been written on the implications of the new legislation for a variety
of areas of law. With the rising level of case-law the emphasis is now turning to
the impact of the legislation on specific areas of social life. In this volume the
focus is on the practice of human rights and how they are enforced in reality.
There is much discussion in the literature of a ‘human rights culture’ but how
precisely is such a culture to be created, and how do we make sense of human
rights? In order to address these questions this volume is in two parts. Part I
examines general issues surrounding the full and effective implementation of
human rights. Part II explores the implications of human rights standards in
particular areas in order to test whether a ‘human rights culture’ has emerged.
Volume 5 in the series Human Rights Law in Perspective
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Human Rights Law in Perspective
General Editor: Colin Harvey
The language of human rights figures prominently in legal and political debates
at the national, regional and international levels. In the UK the Human Rights
Act 1998 has generated considerable interest in the law of human rights. It will
continue to provoke much debate in the legal community and the search for
original insights and new materials will intensify.
The aim of this series is to provide a forum for scholarly reflection on all
aspects of the law of human rights. The series will encourage work which
engages with the theoretical, comparative and international dimensions of
human rights law. The primary aim is to publish over time books which offer
an insight into human rights law in its contextual setting. The objective is to
promote an understanding of the nature and impact of human rights law. The
series is inclusive, in the sense that all perspectives in legal scholarship are wel-
come. It will incorporate the work of new and established scholars.
Human Rights Law in Perspective is not confined to consideration of the UK.
It will strive to reflect comparative, regional and international perspectives.
Work which focuses on human rights law in other states will therefore be
included in this series. The intention is to offer an inclusive intellectual home for
significant scholarly contributions to human rights law.
Volume 1 Importing the Law in Post-Communist Transitions
Catherine Dupré
Volume 2 The Development of the Positive Obligations Under the European
Convention on Human Rights by the European Court of Human Rights
Alastair Mowbray
Volume 3 Human Rights Brought Home: Socio-Legal Studies of Human
Rights in the National Context
Edited by Simon Halliday and Patrick Schmidt
Volume 4 Corporations and Transnational Human Rights Litigation
Sarah Joseph
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Human Rights
in the
Community
Rights as Agents for Change
Edited by
COLIN HARVEY
Queen’s University Belfast
OXFORD AND PORTLAND, OREGON
2005
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Hart Publishing
Oxford and Portland, Oregon
Published in North America (US and Canada) by
Hart Publishing c/o
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5804 NEHassalo Street
Portland, Oregon
97213-3644
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© British Institute of Human Rights 2005
The editors and contributors have asserted their right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the authors of this work
Hart Publishing is a specialist legal publisher based in Oxford, England.
To order further copies of this book or to request a list of other
publications please write to:
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data Available
ISBN 1–84113–446–5 (paperback)
Typeset by Hope Services (Abingdon) Ltd.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
List of Contributors ix
Table of Cases xi
Table of Legislation xix
1 Creating a Culture of Respect for Human Rights 1
Colin Harvey
Part I: Making Human Rights Count in Practice
2 Mainstreaming Human Rights 9
Christopher McCrudden
3 Partner Rediscovered: Human Rights and Equality in the UK 29
Sarah Spencer
4 Social and Economic Rights as Agents for Change 43
Maggie Beirne
5 Building a Human Rights Culture 63
Frances Butler
Part II: Using Human Rights
6 Education: Hard or Soft Lessons in Human Rights? 81
Neville Harris
7 Older People 113
Tessa Harding
8 The Human Rights Act 1998 and Disabled People:
A Right to be Human? 135
Anna Lawson
9 The Emperor’s New Clothes? The Impact of the Human
Rights Act on Mental Health Care 155
Camilla Parker
10 Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 175
Robert Wintemute
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vi Contents
11 Religious Discrimination 201
Mohammed Aziz
12 Children’s Human Rights as a Force for Change 221
Carolyne Willow
Index 239
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Candy Whittome, formerly of the British Institute
of Human Rights, for her assistance with this project. Without her help it
would never have started. Sarah Cooke, the Director of the Institute, provided
encouragement from the beginning. Lisa King was, as ever, a constant source of
inspiration and support.
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List of Contributors
Mohammed Aziz is a commissioner on the Commission for Racial Equality.
Maggie Beirne is Director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice.
Frances Butler is a Visiting Research Fellow with the Institute for Public Policy
Research and the Vice-President of the British Institute of Human Rights.
Tessa Harding is Head of Policy at Help the Aged.
Neville Harris is Professor of Law, Department of Law, University of
Manchester.
Colin Harvey is Professor of Human Rights Law, School of Law, Queen’s
University, Belfast and a member of the Advisory Board of the British
Institute of Human Rights.
Anna Lawson is a lecturer in the School of Law, University of Leeds.
Christopher McCrudden is Professor of Human Rights Law and Fellow of
Lincoln College, University of Oxford.
Camilla Parker is a solicitor and legal member of the Mental Health Act
Commission. She was Legal and Parliamentary Officer at Mind and now
works as a freelance consultant advising on mental health law and policy.
Sarah Spencer is Director of Policy Research at the Centre on Migration, Policy
and Society at the University of Oxford and Deputy Chair of the Commission
for Racial Equality.
Carolyne Willow is the National Co-ordinator of the Children’s Rights Alliance
for England.
Robert Wintemute is Professor of Human Rights Law, School of Law, King’s
College London.
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