Corston Jean's Books

Minutes of proceedings, Session 2004-05 : [Wednesday 1 December 2004 - Wednesday 6 April 2005]

Minutes of proceedings, Session 2003-04 : [Monday 8 December 2003 - Wednesday 17 November 2004]

On cover: Drawing special attention to: Children Bill; Finance Bill; Gender Recognition Bill; Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill; Promotion of Volunteering Bill

On cover: Drawing special attention to: Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Bill, Employment Relations Bill

On cover: Drawing special attention to: Employment Relations Bill; Housing Bill; Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill; Trespassers on Land (Liability for Damage and Eviction) Bill

On cover: Drawing special attention to : Age Related Payments Act, Asylum & Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill, Employment Relations Bill, draft School Transport Bill, draft Criminal Defence Service Bill

On cover: Drawing special attention to: Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Bill; Criminal Defence Service Bill; Charities Bill

Drawing special attention to: Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Bill; Road Safety Bill; Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill

The Human Rights Act makes it unlawful for public authorities to act in breach of the fundamental rights and freedoms set out in the European Convention on Human Rights, and it allows individuals to seek vindication and redress in UK courts. The Committee's report considers a possible flaw in the design of the Human Rights Act, with regards to the meaning of "public authority", which means that many private and voluntary sector providers of public services are considered outside the scope of the Act, with no obligation to comply with the rights and freedoms it incorporated into domestic law. The Committee concludes that there is a fundamental problem, not with the design of the law, but with its inconsistent and restrictive application by the courts. The Committee supports the judgement of the House of Lords in the only case it has so far determined on this matter, in which it balanced a narrow category of "pure" public authority against a generously wide and flexible category of "functional" public authority. The Committee concludes that lower courts should be adopting a clear "functional" approach to the interpretation of the Act.

In this report the Committee describes and explains the full range of its work over the course of the 2001-2005 Parliament. The Committee distils from its experience a number of suggestions for consideration by its successor committee and recommendations addressed to the Government, in order to enhance the integration of human rights considerations into the overall policy and legislative process. Chapter 2 explains the background to the Committee's establishment. Chapter 3 covers the legislative scrutiny performed by the Committee. The monitoring of the implementation of the Human Rights Act is the subject of chapter 4, while chapter 5 covers work in relation to institutional support for human rights within the UK. The inquiries into the international treaties to which the UK is a party are dealt with in chapter 6, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The final chapter describes the work undertaken on monitoring action taken by the Government in response to incompatibilities with Convention rights, arising from Strasbourg judgments and declarations of incompatibility by UK courts.

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) sets standards for race equality and non-discrimination as part of the UN system for human rights protection. In August 2003, the UN supervisory committee on the Convention issued its findings on the UK's compliance, including measures which should be taken to enhance race equality in the UK and areas of concern for compliance with the Convention. The Committee's report considers the UK's implementation of CERD in light of the UN's report. Topics discussed include: the legal status of CERD in UK law and the legislative framework for protection of non-discrimination; the use of CERD standards in policy development and strategies to ensure effective implementation of rights; policing and the criminal justice system; the permissibility of discrimination in relation to immigration control; concerns regarding racial hate speech, and discrimination against gypsies and traveller communities; the reporting process and possible measures to improve access and effectiveness.

Drawing special attention to: Consumer Credit Bill; Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill; Criminal Defence Service Bill; Mental Capacity Bill

Drawing special attention to: European Union Bill; Management of Offenders and Sentencing Bill; Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Bill; Private Members' Bills.

On cover: Drawing special attention to: Identity Cards Bill; Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill; Inquiries Bill; Road Safety Bill; Child Benefit Bill; Electoral Registration (Northern Ireland) Bill

Minutes of proceedings, Session 2002-03 : [Monday 18 November 2002 - Monday 17 November 2003]

Draws special attention to the following Bills: Education Bill; Liverpool City Council (Prohibition of Smoking in Places of Work) Bill; London Local Authorities (Prohibition of Smoking in Places of Work) Bill

On cover: Drawing special attention to: Civil Contingencies Bill; Employment Relations Bill; European Parliamentary and Local Elections (Pilots) Bill; Housing Bill; Planning and Compulsory Purchase Bill; Ipswich Market Bill; Medway Council Bill

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