To celebrate Human Rights Day Legal Cheek counts down its ECHR faves
1. Article 2 — Right to life
R (Pretty) v DPP — the right to life is not the same as the right to die
Motor neurone disease sufferer Dianne Pretty is one of the faces of the right to die campaign. Knowing that she was facing a slow death, she wanted her husband to assist in her suicide. She sought an undertaking from the Director of Public Prosecutions that her husband would not be prosecuted. Dianne Pretty’s human rights challenge was rejected in court — the right to life could not be interpreted as a right to die. In fact, if Article 2 has any relation to Pretty’s case, it was to the benefit of the DPP.
2. Article 3 — Prohibition of torture
Z v UK — human rights can be violated by public bodies, even if the harm was not directly inflicted by the public body
The local authority failed to place four children, all of whom were suffering severe neglect from their parents, on the Child Protection Register. The neglect was so severe that it reached the threshold demanded by Article 3. The court found that the local authority had breached the children’s human rights. Article 3 could therefore be used against the local authority, even though they did not directly inflict the harm.
3. Article 4 — Prohibition of slavery and forced labour
C.N. v UK — there is a positive duty on the state to ensure that people are not being forced into domestic servitude
A woman from Uganda travelled to the UK to escape from sexual and physical violence. When she began working, her wages were paid to her relative, who kept them. A police unit investigated her case, and came to the conclusion that there was no evidence of trafficking. The court found that Article 4 had been breached, because the right places states under a procedural duty to investigate whether an individual’s rights have been violated.
4. Article 5 — Right to liberty and security
A v Secretary of State for the Home Department — even in a state of emergency, human rights law is important
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, parliament declared a state of emergency. This gave the Home Secretary the power to detain foreign terror suspects indefinitely, without charge or a trial. Eight people were detained under these new powers, and three of them remained in prison for three years. None of the eight people were ever charged or tried. The court ruled that indefinite imprisonment without trial negated the right to liberty and was a disproportionate measure to the terrorist threat.
5. Article 6 — Right to a fair trial
Golder v UK — people have a right to access justice
A prisoner was denied access to a solicitor while in prison, and was therefore unable to seek legal advice. Article 6 is not simply a right to a fair trial in the courtroom, but also imposes an obligation on the state to ensure access to justice. The law has since been changed to reflect this case law to allow prisoners access to their solicitors.
6. Article 7 — No punishment without law
Welch v UK — retrospective punishment is a breach of human rights
Welch was convicted in 1988 of drug offences he had committed in 1986. When he was sentenced, a confiscation order was imposed. The law on confiscation orders came from an act that had only come into force in 1987. The punishment of the drug dealer was retrospectively harsher than it would have been had he been convicted of the offence when he had committed it, and this was a breach of his human rights.
7. Article 8 — Right to respect for private and family life
Dudgeon v UK — it is not illegal to be gay
Jeffrey Dudgeon was a gay activist in Belfast, when homosexuality was illegal in Northern Ireland. Police interrogated him for four and a half hours about his sexual conduct. When he complained, the court ruled that the criminalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults violated Article 8. This case paved the way for change to the law of gay rights in Northern Ireland. In 2003, this case was cited in a US Supreme Court ruling that found 14 US states’ gay rights laws unconstitutional.
8. Article 9 — Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Eweida v UK — Christians have a right to wear cross necklaces at work
British Airways banned airhostess Nadie Ewieda from wearing a necklace with a small Christian cross on it at work. This was because the company wanted to project a corporate image and claimed that the necklace did not comply with their uniform policy. Ewieda took her case to court and won — the cross was discreet, it didn’t affect her ability to do her job, and she had a right to demonstrate her religion in public.
9. Article 10 — Freedom of expression
Handyside v UK — people have the right to express offensive ideas
Richard Handyside bought the British publishing rights of a book called ‘The Little Red Schoolbook’, which encouraged children to question authority. He was prosecuted and fined for possessing the ‘obscene’ book. Handyside failed to convince the court that his Article 10 right had been breached — but the court famously ruled that the right extended to protect ideas that “offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population.” In 2014, 45 years after the case was heard, an uncensored version of the book was published in the UK.
10. Article 14 — Prohibition of discrimination
Smith and Grady v UK — gay soldiers can serve in the armed forces
In the 90s, four people were dismissed from the armed forces for being homosexuals. When they brought their case to court, it was decided that Article 14, tagged to Article 8, had been violated. This judgment led the Ministry of Defence to change its policy in 2000, and now gay people are allowed to serve openly.
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