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Using the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities to Promote Dignity and Address Disadvantage

Using the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities to Promote Dignity and Address Disadvantage. Phil Lynch Director Human Rights Law Resource Centre Ltd hrlrc@vicbar.com.au + 61 3 9225 6653 www.hrlrc.org.au. Overview. Interpreting and applying the Charter

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Using the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities to Promote Dignity and Address Disadvantage

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  1. Using the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities to Promote Dignity and Address Disadvantage Phil Lynch Director Human Rights Law Resource Centre Ltd hrlrc@vicbar.com.au + 61 3 9225 6653 www.hrlrc.org.au

  2. Overview • Interpreting and applying the Charter • Some of the key human rights in detail • The importance of defining ‘public authority’ broadly • Unlocking the potential of the Charter to promote dignity and address discrimination through: • Advocacy and litigation • Enhanced service delivery and policy design

  3. Purpose of Charter • Founded on principle that ‘human rights are essential in a democratic and inclusive society that respects the rule of law, human dignity, equality and freedom’ • Cf Conor Gearty, Principles of Human Rights Adjudication (2004): UK HRA raised in between 20-50% of superior court cases but generally only engaged in cases which raise principles of civil liberty, legality and human dignity • Aims to ‘protect and promote human rights’ by ensuring they inform decision-making processes across all levels and arms of government

  4. Human Rights in the Charter • ‘Modelled’ on ICCPR rights: F reedom: movement, assembly & association, forced work, expression, thought & religion, liberty & security, fair hearing R espect: life, protection of families and children, cultural rights, property E quality: non-discrimination, equal recognition, participation D ignity: torture & cruel treatment, humane treatment in detention, privacy & reputation

  5. Interpreting Rights in the Charter • Must be interpreted and applied so as to make them ‘real and effective’, not ‘theoretical and illusory’ • Eg, right to fair hearing subsumes right of access to courts: Kijewska v Poland [2007] ECHR 73002/01 • May impose positive, negative and procedural obligations • Eg, right to life may require steps to protect life:Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust [2007] EWCA Civ 1375

  6. Interpreting Rights in the Charter (2) • Charter is a ‘living tree’ • Eg, corporal punishment now amounts to cruel treatment:Tyrer v United Kingdom (1978) 2 EHRR 1 • Meaning of ‘arbitrary’ and ‘lawful’ • ‘Arbitrary’ – incorporates consideration of proportionality, inappropriateness and injustice:A v Australia, HRC, Communication No 560/1993; Van Alphen v The Netherlands, HRC, Communication No 305/1988 • ‘Lawful’ – requires that the law be ‘discernable’, ‘adequately accessible’ and ‘sufficiently foreseeable’:R (on the application of Gillan) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [2006] UKHL 12

  7. Key Rights within the Charterto Address Disadvantage • Right to life (s 9) • Protection from torture and ill treatment (s 10) / humane treatment in detention (s 22) • Right to privacy (s 13) • Protection of families and children (s 17) – will not cover in detail • Right to equality (s 8) – will not cover in detail

  8. Right to Life (s 9) Every person has the right to life and has the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of life • Tripartite obligations: • Negative obligation ‘not to take life without justification’ • Substantive obligation to ‘establish laws, precautions, procedures and enforcement which protect life to the greatest extent reasonably practicable’ • Procedural obligation to undertake ‘effective, independent, public investigation where substantive obligation may have been breached’: Gentle & Anor v The Prime Minister & Anor [2008] UKHL 20 (9 April 2008)

  9. Right to Life - Applications • Access to adequate health care for detainees • Lantsova v Russian Federation, UN Doc CCPR/C/74/D/763/1997 (2002) • Protection from domestic violence • Smith v Chief Constable of Sussex Police [2008] EWCA Civ 39 (February 2008); Kontrova v Slovakia [2007] ECHR 7510/04 (May 2007) • Heightened vigilance required for vulnerable groups such as people with mental illness and children • Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust [2007] EWCA Civ 1375

  10. Right to Life – Future Directions • Subsumes and includes all those conditions and capabilities which are necessary to live with human dignity, including adequate housing, health care, social assistance and education • Mullin v Administrator, Union Territory of Delhi [1981] 2 INSC 516, 528 • Gosselin v Quebec (2002) 221 DLR (4th) 257 (per Arbour J and L’Heureux-Dubé dissenting)

  11. Protection from Torture and Ill-Treatment (s 10) A person must not be - • subjected to torture; • treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way… • Purpose is to protect ‘physical and mental integrity and dignity’ • Absolutely prohibits treatment which ‘to a seriously detrimental extent, denies the most basic needs of any human being’: • Limbuela v Secretary of State for Home Department [2006] 1 AC 396, [7] • Tripartite obligation: • Negative obligation not to engage in ill-treatment • Substantive obligation to ensure safeguards, facilities and conditions to ensure people are not debased • Procedural obligation to adequately investigate, punish and remedy breaches

  12. Protection from Torture and Ill-Treatment – Applications • Access to adequate health care and healthy conditions for detainees • Dybeku v Albania [2007] ECHR 41153/06 (December 2007) • Mamedova v Russia [2007] ECHR 7064/05 • Noorkoiv v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2002] EWCA Civ 770 • Protection of vulnerable people from abuse and neglect • Z v United Kingdom (2001) 34 EHRR 97 • Prevention of and protection from destitution • Limbuela v Secretary of State for Home Department [2006] 1 AC 396

  13. Right to Privacy (s 13) A person has the right - • not to have his or her privacy, family, home or correspondence unlawfully or arbitrarily interfered with… • ‘Privacy’ • Broad term which covers all aspects of a person’s physical, psychological and social identity and relationships: HRC, General Comment 16; Pretty v United Kingdom (2002) 35 EHRR 1 • ‘Family’ • Broad interpretation to include all those comprising the family as understood in society and is not confined by marriage: HRC, General Comment 16; EM to Victorian Charter • ‘Home’ • Includes ‘where a person resides or carries out their ordinary occupation’: HRC, General Comment 16

  14. Right to Privacy (s 13) (cont) • ‘Lawful’ • Requires that the law be ‘discernable’, ‘adequately accessible’ and ‘sufficiently foreseeable’:R (on the application of Gillan) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [2006] UKHL 12 • ‘Arbitrary’ • Incorporates consideration of proportionality, reasonableness, inappropriateness and injustice:HRC, General Comment 16; A v Australia, HRC, No 560/1993 • Something can be ‘lawful’ but nevertheless ‘arbitrary’ and therefore ‘unlawful’: Zealand v Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development and Another [2008] ZACC 3 (11 March 2008)

  15. Right to Privacy - Applications • Protection from eviction into homelessness • McCann v United Kingdom [2008] ECHR 19009/04 (May 2008) • Stanková v Slovakia [2007] ECHR 7205/02 (October 2007) • Provision of accommodation to very vulnerable people, particularly children and people with disabilities • Anufrijeva v Southwark London Borough Council; R (on the application of N) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2003] EWCA Civ 1406 • Marzari v Italy (1999) 28 EHRR CD 175

  16. Protection of Families and Children (s 17) • Families are the fundamental group unit of society and are entitled to be protected by society and the State. • Every child has the right, without discrimination, to such protection as is in his or her best interests… • Modelled on art 24 of the ICCPR which requires: • ‘development of necessary protections by social institutions’ • ‘every possible social and economic measure’ to, among other things, ensure protection from violence, exploitation and adequate nutrition • every possible measure to foster development, including provision of adequate education: HRC, General Comment No 17 • ‘access to the conditions that guarantee a dignified existence’: ‘Street Children’ Case, Inter-American Court of Human Rights (November 1999)

  17. Right to Equality (s 8) • Every person has the right to enjoy human rights without discrimination • Every person is equal before the law and entitled to equal protection of the law.. • Focuses on substantive equality • Prohibits discrimination but also includes a positive right to equality in any area falling within the ‘wide ambit’ or ‘general scope’ of relevant human rights • R (on the application of Clift) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] UKHL 54 (December 2006) • May require special measures to address inequality, including socio-economic measures • Eldridge v British Columbia [1997] 3 SCR 624

  18. The Importance of Defining ‘Public Authority’ Broadly A public authority includes … • an entity whose functions are or include functions of a public nature… • Should be interpreted widely to give effective protection to human rights, particularly rights of vulnerable people • Cf YL v Birmingham City Council & Ors [2007] UKHL 27 • Health and Social Care Bill 2008 (UK) • Human Rights Act Amendment Act 2007 (ACT) • Interpretation should have regard to: • type of power being exercised; and • capacity to interfere with rights – rather than narrow administrative and institutional links with state

  19. Litigation and Advocacy:Impact Areas • Judicial review patterns under UK HRA (descending order by volume in post-permission cases): • Source: Public Law Project, The Impact of the Human Rights Act on Judicial Review (2003)

  20. Litigation and Advocacy:Critical Rights • Use of articles in post-permission cases citing UK HRA: • Art 8 (right to respect for privacy and family life) – 46 % • Art 6 (right to a fair hearing) – 44 % • Art 5 (right to liberty and security of person) – 23 % • Art 14 (prohibition on discrimination) – 14 % • Art 3 (freedom from torture and cruel treatment) – 13 % • Art 2 (right to life) – 10 % • Source: Public Law Project, The Impact of the Human Rights Act on Judicial Review (2003)

  21. Litigation and Advocacy: Lessons for Practitioners • No discernable increase in volume, costs or length of litigation • Considered in 35% of House of Lords Cases and ‘substantially affected result’ in about 10% • Cases reached a ‘peak’ in 2001-02 and are now about ½ that

  22. Litigation and Advocacy: Lessons for Practitioners (2) • HRA appears to have focused and stimulated NGO and CLC litigation activity, esp as TPIs • Reference to HRA by practitioners and judges often cursory and unsophisticated, reflecting need for more extensive and effective legal professional and judicial education • Enhanced dialogue between UK and other human rights courts

  23. Impact on Policy and Service Delivery • Human rights are common sense and can improve lives • Improved legislative and executive transparency and accountability • Improved framework for design and delivery of public services. Awareness-raising, education and capacity building around human rights can empower people and result in: • Better public service outcomes • Improved levels of consumer satisfaction • More flexible, individualised and responsive policies and practices • Core principles of FREDA can trigger new thinking and help decision-makers ‘see seemingly intractable problems in a new light’

  24. Key Resources • www.hrlrc.org.au • Guide to the Charter • Searchable Database of Charter Case Law • Articles, Materials and Commentary • Monthly E-Bulletin • www.justice.vic.gov.au • Evans & Evans, Australian Bills of Rights: The Law of the Victorian Charter and the ACT HRA (LexisNexis, 2008) • Pound & Evans, An Annotated Guide to the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities (Thomson, 2008)

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