Quotations taken from: "Rights Brought Home: The Human Rights Bill" (Ref: CM 3782, October 1997)

"The Government has a Manifesto commitment to introduce legislation to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into United Kingdom law." (p.2)

The case for incorporation

"The effect of non-incorporation on the British people is a very practical one. The rights, originally developed with major help from the United Kingdom Government, are no longer actually seen as British rights. And enforcing them takes too long and costs too much. It takes on average five years to get an action into the European Court of Human Rights once all domestic remedies have been exhausted; and it costs an average of £30,000. Bringing these rights home will mean that the British people will be able to argue for their rights in the British courts - without this inordinate delay and cost. It will also mean that the rights will be brought much more fully into the jurisprudence of the courts throughout the United Kingdom, and their interpretation will thus be far more subtly and powerfully woven into our law. And there will be another distinct benefit. British judges will be enabled to make a distinctively British contribution to the development of the jurisprudence of human rights in Europe.

It is plainly unsatisfactory that someone should be the victim of a breach of the Convention standards by the State yet cannot bring any case at all in the British courts, simply because British law does not recognise the right in the same terms as one contained in the Convention." (pp.6-7)

Bringing Rights Home

"Enabling the Convention rights to be judged by British courts will also lead to closer scrutiny of the human rights implication of new legislation and new policies. If legislation is enacted which is incompatible with the Convention, a ruling by the domestic courts to that effect will be much more direct and immediate than a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights. The Government of the day, and Parliament, will want to minimise the risk of that happening.

Our aim is a straightforward one. It is to make more directly accessible the rights which the British people already enjoy under the Convention. In other words, to bring those rights home." (p.7)

Reservations

… The United Kingdom is a party to the First protocol to the Convention, but has a reservation in place in respect of Article 2 of the Protocol. Article 2 sets out two principles … The reservation makes it clear that the United Kingdom accepts this second principle only so far as it is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and training, and the avoidance of unreasonable public expenditure.'

Relevant Articles of THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Article 9

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

2. Freedom to manifest one"s religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others." (p.21)

Article 14

"The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status." (p.21)

The First Protocol

Article 2

"No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions." (p.22)

Other Relevant Articles of THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS which are not quoted in "Rights Brought Home: The Human Rights Bill"

Article 1

"The High Contracting Parties shall secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section I of this Convention. "

Article 13

"Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.

Comment:

The United Kingdom is one of the "High Contracting Parties", and "Section I" of the Convention comprises Articles 2-18 . Articles 13 and 14 of the Convention clarify the present government"s duty to "secure" the rights and duties defined in the Convention. It follows that further secondary legislation will be needed in order to "secure" the rights which the Convention seeks to protect by providing an "effective remedy" in the English courts "without discrimination on any ground". If the government were to fail to do this, it would itself then be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It follows that the government is under a duty, by virtue of Articles 1 and 13 of the Convention, to secure Muslim rights by passing legislation which inter alia protects them from religious discrimination - in spite of its present rejection of the main recommendations of the recent Runnymede Trust Report, Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All.