Policy

Joint NGO submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review (United Kingdom), Second Cycle, 13th Session 2012

The attacks on the Human Rights Act from certain political and media quarters is continuing in earnest. With the deadline for submitting evidence to the Government's Commission on a UK Bill of Rights is fast approaching now is the time for us all to speak up for the Human Rights Act! The deadline for submissions is 11 November 2011.

BIHR is worried that the Commission's work will in fact undermine the legal protection of human rights in the UK, bolstering the current frenzy calling for the repeal or replacement of the Human Rights Act. The idea that we should scrap or undermine the Human Rights Act in order to improve the protection of human rights is nonsense. Any system of human rights protection worth its salt will throw up decisions that those in power find unpalatable. This is after all the point of human rights – to protect us all from an arbitrary and over-reaching State. The vital constitutional checks and balances provided by the Human Rights Act and the current denigration of this system by some sections of the media and political classes is no reason to get rid of the Act, if anything it demonstrates all the more reason for standing firm.

BIHR is urging you to join us in speaking up for the Human Rights Act. We have produced the below briefing to help you do just that! You are free to use as much or as little of this briefing as you like, so please cut and paste as you think appropriate. Please also share this briefing with your contacts, networks and members and encourage them to respond to the consultation.

UKBA (an agency of the Home Office) is currently carrying out a consultation on changes to law and policy on family migration. At first glance this appears to be most relevant for those working in the immigration field. However, at the British Institute of Human Rights we have serious concerns about attempts in this consultation to “re-balance” the right to a private and family life (“Article 8”) as protected by the Human Rights Act. This consultation is an important opportunity for us all to tell the Government why this fundamental right should not be reformed through the “backdoor” of immigration measures. This is why BIHR has produced a briefing document on this consultation to help others get involved. The deadline for the consultation is very soon – the 6 October. To find out more, including how to respond to the consultation, please read our breifing.

Read the latest update of BIHR's policy position on the Human Rights Act

This report is produced jointly by BIHR and the Equality and Diversity Forum, funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Published on international human rights day 2010, the report explores how voluntary organisations in the equalities field are using human rights concepts, language and tools in their work.