C
counterpart to the rights guaranteed by their
L
constitution. O
The Minister said he hoped that the British
S
Institute of Human Rights and many others involved
I
N
in human rights take part in the Bill of Rights debate
G
because, like the European Convention which

reflected not unanimity but a very broad consensus P
about its importance, and the establishment of
L
E
the Human Rights Act, “this will only fly if there is
N
broad agreement for its purpose and its text”.
A
R
Questions from the floor
Y
Will the Bill of Rights be a formal
justiciable document?
The Minister explained that the forthcoming
green paper document will set out a range
of possibilities. The parts of the Bill which
consolidate the Human Rights Act can be
Responsibilities could form “part of a new
justiciable. On the responsibilities side, and
constitutional architecture in this country which
the extension of economic and social rights,
will articulate to society at large the obligations
he said, “you can do one of three things”:
which we owe to each other as human
make them directly justiciable, make them
beings in a modern liberal democracy and the
declaratory, or have them as interpretive so
importance that we collectively hold by them,
that they do not form an alternative source of
as well as continuing to assert the rights that we
action but they can be used by the courts to
have against the State.” It is the purpose of the
interpret people’s substantive rights – which
Human Rights Act to ensure that individuals have
kind of right applies will depend on the part of
protection against the overweening power of the
the text.
State. The Minister, having been involved in “the
hard edge of the operation of the State over the
What is the government doing about the
last 12 years,” considered it “vital, however good
issue of the responsibilities of the state which are
you may feel you are yourself, that there are very
contracted out to private services and protection
clear checks on arbitrary power, by Parliament, by
for people under the Human Rights Act?
public and by the courts.”
According to the Minister, the Government is
actively considering how to resolve the dilemma
with respect to other cases where public
A Bill of Rights and Responsibilities could form
authorities were delivering public services when
“part of a new constitutional architecture in this
the Human Rights Act was brought in, and have
country which will articulate to society at large the
now contracted out these responsibilities.
obligations which we owe to each other as human
beings in a modern liberal democracy”
Why doesn’t the UK state incorporate the
Jack Straw MP
International Convent on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights into national legislation?
The Minister acknowledged that the exercise of Jack Straw attributed this to concern over
creating the Bill is a difficult one, but also that it the extent to which this would expose the
is “a process which other advanced democracies UK to litigation and pursuit through national
are undergoing – no longer as a product of war, and international courts. “There is a general
revolution or social strife, but out of a desire to consensus in this country that while people
see the achievements of the past 50 years, for should have economic and social rights, the
example, across Europe, made safe for the next”. issues of resources and the allocations of these
He cited the Dutch Government’s development
25
rights should be a matter for parliament and not
of a ‘Charter for Responsible Citizenship’ as a for the courts.”
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