JCHR legislative scrutiny priorities for 2012-13: call for evidence

The Committee also scrutinises draft bills to the extent that its other work permits.  The Committee’s scrutiny of bills and draft bills for compatibility with the requirements of human rights law includes consideration of whether the bill presents an opportunity to enhance human rights in the UK.  The Committee actively encourages input from civil society into its legislative scrutiny work.

Following the announcement of the Government’s legislative programme for 2012-13, the Committee has provisionally identified 5 bills and 3 draft bills which it considers are likely to raise significant human rights issues: 

• draft Care and Support Bill
• Children and Families Bill
• draft Communications Data Bill
• Crime and Courts Bill
• Defamation Bill
• Electoral Registration and Administration Bill
• draft Enhanced TPIMs Bill
• Justice and Security Bill

The Committee proposes to focus its legislative scrutiny work principally on these bills and draft bills during the current parliamentary session.  Short submissions are invited from interested groups and individuals on:

• The significant human rights issues likely to be raised by each bill or draft bill
• Whether the bill or draft bill presents opportunities to enhance protection of human rights

NOTE:

Submissions should reach the Committee by 29 June 2012 and be addressed to Mike Hennessy, 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.

It would be helpful, for Data Protection purposes, if individuals submitting written evidence send their contact details separately in a covering letter.  You should be aware that there may be circumstances in which the Joint Committee on Human Rights will be required to communicate information to third parties on request, in order to comply with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  View guidance on giving evidence to Select Committees.

Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a proposed memorandum, in which case a hard copy of the published work should be included.
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.  Evidence published other than under the authority of the Committee does not attract parliamentary privilege.  If your evidence is not printed, it will in due course be made available to the public in the Parliamentary Archives.

All communications to the Committee about its legislative scrutiny should be addressed through the Clerks or the Chair of the Committee, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee. 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. Evidence published other than under the authority of the Committee does not attract parliamentary privilege.