Review: Government’s response to judgments identifying breaches of human rights

The previous Committee published its Fifteenth Report of 2009-10, Enhancing Parliament's role in relation to human rights judgments (PDF 1.21 MB), HL 85/HC 455 in March 2010.  The Government’s response to this report was published on 27 July 2010 as Cm 7892.  The Committee intends to adopt the Guidance for Departments published by its predecessor with that Report as the basis for its ongoing scrutiny of the Government’s response to human rights judgments.  It intends to take oral evidence on these issues from the Minister for Human Rights during the course of the session.

The Committee is actively seeking to encourage more input from civil society into its human rights judgments work. The Committee would welcome submissions from outside individuals or organisations in relation to:

• the Government’s response to Enhancing Parliament's role in relation to human rights judgments;
• any of the cases considered in the Committee's last Report, including any updated information provided by the UK to the Committee of Ministers;
• any cases which have become final since January 2010 , where the European Court of Human Rights has found a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights by the UK or where a declaration of incompatibility has been made by a UK court.

Issues arising from final cases between January-July 2010:

The Committee would welcome submissions from outside individuals or organisations on these issues, as well as on the points set out above. The Committee intends to scrutinise issues arising from these cases in the 2010-11 parliamentary session

• Counter-terrorism power to stop and search without reasonable suspicion (Gillan and Quniton v United Kingdom App No 4158/05)
• Indefinite notification requirements on sex offenders without  opportunity for review (F & Thomson v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] UKSC 17 (Declaration of Incompatibility)
• Right to attend bail hearings (Allen v UK App 18837/06 (Final on 30 June 2010)
• Protection of journalistic sources and the right to freedom of expression (Financial Times v UK, App No 821/03 (Final on 15 March 2010)
• The right to an effective remedy in child protection cases which involve breaches of the right to private and family life (MAK and RK v UK App No 45901/05, 40146/06; AD and OD v UK, App No 28680/60)
• Deportation following conviction and the right to family life (AW Khan v UK, App No 47486/06.  See also Omjudi v UK, App No 1820/08)
• Length of proceedings and the right to a fair hearing (Richard Anderson v UK, App No 19859/04)

Please note:

Submissions should reach the Committee by 22 October 2010 and be addressed to the Commons Clerk of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Committee Office, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA (email: jchr@parliament.uk).  Electronic submission in Word or Rich Text format is requested, but a signed hard copy should also be sent.

Evidence becomes the property of the Committee, and may be printed, placed on the Internet or circulated by the Committee at any stage.  You may publicise or publish your evidence yourself, but in doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee. If you do this parliamentary privilege will not apply to your own publication, as evidence published other than under the authority of the Committee does not attract parliamentary privilege.