Chapter 20 Multiple choice questions

. The Human Rights Act 1998 was designed with the single aim of improving people's ability to enforce human rights obligations.

True

False

. 'It is course open to member states to provide for rights more generous than those guaranteed by the Convention, but such provision should not be the product of the interpretation of the Convention by national courts, since the meaning of the Convention should be uniform throughout the states party of it. The duty of the courts is to keep pace with the __________ jurisprudence as it evolves over time: no more, but certainly no less.'

. Which statement best describes the comments made by Lords Kerr and Mance in D v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (Liberty and others intervening) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2018] UKSC 11 on expanding rights set out in the ECHR?

Domestic courts should further socio-economic rights.

Domestic courts shouldn't expand upon rights without Parliamentary authorisation.

Domestic courts should wait for the European Court of Human Rights to rule on the expansion of Convention rights.

Domestic courts should not be afraid to expand upon the rights set out in the Convention.

. Match the source of the quote on s.3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 to the relevant quote.

The courts will be required to interpret legislation so as to uphold the Convention rights unless the legislation itself is so clearly incompatible with the Convention that it is impossible to do so.

.

The intention of Parliament in enacting s.3 was that, to an extent bounded only by what is 'possible', a court can modify the meaning, and hence the effect, of primary and secondary legislation. Parliament, however, cannot have intended that in the discharge of this extended interpretative function the courts should adopt a meaning inconsistent with a fundamental feature of legislation. That would cross the constitutional boundary s.3 seeks to demarcate and preserve.

.

It is my view not open to the courts to foreclose them by adopting an interpretation of the existing legislation which it not only does not bear but which is manifestly inconsistent with it.

.

Interpretation under s.3 brings about significant changes in the traditional role of Parliamentary intention in statutory interpretation. It shifts the interpretive focus away from what Parliament originally intended, towards fulfilling the overriding goal of achieving compatibility with the Convention. When interpreting under s.3, judges can detach legislative meaning from its original contextual setting.

. Which of the following statements about s.4 of the Human Rights Act are correct? Please select all that apply.

A declaration of incompatibility does not affect the validity, continuing operation or enforcement of the provision in respect of which it is given.

A declaration of incompatibility makes the provision invalid and cannot be enforced afterwards.

A declaration of incompatibility does not provide a tangible remedy for claimants nor does it impose legal obligations on public authorities.

A declaration of incompatibility provides an instant remedy for claimants and is binding on public authorities.

. In R (Steinfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development [2018] UKSC 32, the Supreme Court declined to issue a s.4 declaration of incompatibility because the government had already agreed to amend the Act in question to make it compatible.

False

True

. The Human Rights Act 1998 is said to have more than one form of legal effect. Which of the following are correct? Please select all that apply.

Diagonal effect.

Vertical effect.

Horizontal effect.

Indirect horizontal effect.

. What is a 'hybrid' public authority?

It is a private body, which performs functions of a 'public nature'.

It is a public authority, which performs functions of a 'private nature'.

It is a public body, which makes a profit.

It is a private body, which does not make a profit.

. The standing requirement under s. 6(1) is broader than it is for judicial review proceedings.

True

False

. Match the author to their quote on the issue of judicial deference.

'The question of whether something is "in the interests" of national security is not a question of law. It is a matter of judgment and policy.'

.

'They (the judiciary) should guard against a presumption that matters of public interest are outside their competence and be ever aware that they are now the ultimate arbiters (although not ultimate guarantors) of the necessary qualities of a democracy in which the popular will is no longer always expected to prevail.'

.

'The structure of the ECHR (the qualified rights) makes clear that an interference with the relevant Convention right is only justifiable if it is in accordance with the law necessary in a democratic society, criteria upon which the view of the executive cannot possibly be conclusive. Indeed it is the very ethos of the ECHR that the courts will be the arbiters of these criteria.'

. First and foremost, it (the decision of the Court of Appeal in the Denbigh High School case) rests on a basic mistake. Proportionality is a test to be applied by the _____ when reviewing decisions of public authorities after they have been made. It is not a test which ought to mean that public authorities should themselves adopt a proportionality approach to the structuring of their decision making.

. What were the three major consequences for the United Kingdom of the European Court of Human Right's decision in Chahal? Please select all that apply.

A new procedure had to be introduced that would enable people to challenge decisions to deport made on grounds of national security, but which would not enable the release of confidential information.

It led to the establishment of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

The Home Secretary was fired.

It has made the deportation of an individual to a country where they could be subject to treatment contrary to Article 3 impossible.

. In A v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 56 the majority agreed with Lord Hoffmann's position on the question of whether there was a public emergency that threatened the life of the nation.

False

True

. What does Mary Arden argue is the significance of the Belmarsh case?

It is a landmark decision that demonstrates what it means to live in a society where the executive is subject to the rule of law.

It is a landmark decision that demonstrated the weakness of the Human Rights Act 1998.

It is a landmark decision that demonstrated the importance of Parliamentary sovereignty.

It is a landmark decision that demonstrated the importance of the separation of powers.

. Match the quote on control orders to the person or body that said it.

'The effect of the 18-hour curfew… meant that the controlled persons were in practice in solitary confinement for this lengthy period every day for an indefinite duration.'

.

'(the decision of the Grand Chamber) establishes that the controlee must be given sufficient information about the allegation against him to enable him to give effective instructions in relation to those allegations.'

.

'I agree that the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights requires these appeals to be allowed. I do so with my very considerable regret, because I think that the decision of the ECHR was wrong and that it may well destroy the system of control orders which is a significant part of this country's defences against terrorism.'

.

'We continue to have very serious concerns about the human rights compatibility of both the control orders regime itself and its operation in practice.'

. On the control orders/TPIMs saga, Professor Helen Fenwick wrote that this saga 'thus not only provides no support for the _____ of the HRA, but also underlines the folly of giving serious consideration to withdraw from the ECHR.'

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