Your Rights

Will be the first guide to the implications of the new Human Rights Act; Published in association with Liberty; Provides clear, expert, authoritative guide for the layperson; Praise for the 6th Edition: 'A very useful general guide...It is the kind of book that everyone needs from time to time, whether it is to decide whether there are grounds for using the law or just to check up on something. It is well laid out and easy to use.' Labour Research This new edition of the successful civil liberties guide Your Rights is expanded and extended in scope to include full coverage of the Human Rights Act - given Royal Assent in 1998, to come into force October 2000. In this Act, the European Convention on Human Rights becomes central to English law, giving statutory force to the general presumption that all legislation (past or future) is intended to be compatible with Convention Rights. It also requires courts to interpret all law - whether statutory or judge-made - so as to conform with the Convention whenever possible. Thirdly, and most importantly, the Act will require public authorities to act in compliance with the Convention.
Public bodies acting in violation of the Convention will be acting unlawfully. Public authorities affected will include government departments, local authorities, the police, immigration, prisons, NHS and trust hospitals, the courts and tribunals and any body which exercises a public function.