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Scrutinising
legislation and policy
Click
here to see our human rights briefings
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Intervening
in the courts
JUSTICE has a long
history of intervening in cases involving the protection of fundamental
rights. The aim of our third party interventions is to assist the courts
by providing an independent analysis of the human rights principles and
standards at issue in a case, as well as any relevant international and
comparative human rights law. Through our interventions, we seek to ensure
that the courts have full regard to human rights principles and jurisprudence
in appropriate cases. Over the years, JUSTICE has intervened in key human
rights cases before the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords, the Privy
Council, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human
Rights.
YL
v Birmingham City Council and others
On 20 June, the House of Lords held by a 3-2 majority that the Human Rights
Act does not apply to publicly-funded patients in private care homes.
JUSTICE intervened jointly with Liberty and the British Institute of Human
Rights to argue for a broad interpretation of the Act. Click here
to read the judgment and here
to read JUSTICE's press release. Click here
to read the joint submissions.
Al
Skeini and others v Secretary of State for Defence
On 13 June 2007, the House of Lords held by a 4-1 majority that the Human
Rights Act applies to all those detained in military custody by UK forces
overseas. JUSTICE was part of a coalition of 11 NGOs including Amnesty
International, Liberty, the AIRE Centre and Interights intervening in
the case. Click here
to read the judgment and here
to read JUSTICE's press release. Click here
to read the joint submissions.
R
v F
Intervention before the Court of Appeal in February 2007 concerning the
compatibility of the definition of terrorism under s1 Terrorism Act 2000
with Article 10 ECHR. Click here
to read JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the judgment.
JJ
and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department
Intervention before the Court of Appeal in July 2006 regarding whether
control orders imposing 18 hour curfews violated Article 5 ECHR. Click
here
to read JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Secretary
of State for the Home Department v MB
Intervention
before the Court of Appeal in June 2006 concerning the compatibility of
control order proceedings with Article 6 ECHR. Click here
to read JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Ron
Jones v Saudi Arabia
Joint intervention
with Amnesty International, Interights and REDRESS before the House of
Lords in April 2006 regarding state immunity for torture. Click here
to read the joint submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Al
Jedda v Secretary of State for Defence
Intervention before the Court of Appeal in January 2006 concerning whether
the right to liberty under the Human Rights Act and Article 5 ECHR can
be displaced by a resolution of the UN Security Council. Click here
to read JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the Court of Appeal judgment.
Leeds
City Council v Price
Joint
intervention with Liberty before the House of Lords in November 2005,
as to whether lower courts should be free to follow decisions of the European
Court of Human Rights as an exception to the doctrine of binding precedent.
Click here
to read the joint submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Ramzy
v Netherlands
Joint intervention
with Liberty before the European Court of Human Rights in November 2005,
regarding whether the risk of ill-treatment contrary to Article 3 ECHR
is an absolute bar to deportation on national security grounds. Click
here to read
the joint submissions.
A
and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department (No 2)
Joint intervention coordinated by JUSTICE before the House of Lords in
October 2005 between the International Commission of Jurists, the International
Bar Association and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, concerning the
admissibility of evidence obtained by torture in UK courts. Click here
to read JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Limbuela
v Secretary of State for the Home Department
Joint intervention with Liberty before the House of Lords in October 2005
regarding whether the Home Secretary's refusal to provide subsistence
support to a destitute asylum seeker amounted to a breach of Article 3
ECHR. Click here
to read JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Roberts
v Parole Board
Intervention before the House of Lords in May 2005 concerning the use
of closed proceedings and special advocates by the Parole Board. Click
here to read JUSTICE's
submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Ullah
v Special Adjudicator
Intervention before
the House of Lords in May 2004 regarding whether conditions in a state
to which a person is returned via immigration removal could engage other
Convention rights besides Article 3 ECHR. Click here
to read JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the judgment.
R
v Lambert
Intervention before the House of Lords in April 2001 concerning the compatibility
of reverse onus clauses in relation to rights to fair trial under Article
6 ECHR. Click here to read
JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Brown
v Procurator Fiscal
Intervention before the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council in October 2000, concerning the use at
trial of self-incriminatory statements under the Road Traffic Act, in
the context of fair trial rights under Article 6 ECHR. Click here
to read JUSTICE's submissions and here
to read the judgment.
Kaur
v UK
Intervention before the European Court of Justice in July 2000, focusing
on human rights issues in respect of British nationals who have no other
effective nationality and no guaranteed right of entry to any territory.
Click here to read JUSTICE's
submissions.
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Promoting
and monitoring the UK's compliance with the international rule of law
In addition to the
rights incorporated into the Human Rights Act and those under EU law,
the United Kingdom also has obligations at international level. It is
required to comply with rights such as those set out in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention
Against Torture. JUSTICE works to highlight these obligations and
draw attention to any laws, policies or government actions which appear
to be incompatible with them, eg the possible involvement of the UK government
in the US practice of extraordinary rendition.
JUSTICE is also an
active participant in the monitoring process that periodically reviews
the UK's compliance with its obligations under various international human
rights instruments. In addition to submitting evidence to the relevant
international monitoring body, JUSTICE also meets regularly with the Department
of Constitutional Affairs to discuss the UK's reports and submits evidence
to the Joint Committee on Human Rights in respect of the UK's international
obligations.
JUSTICE also works
to promote the UK's signature and ratification of other international
instruments that would enhance the protection of fundamental rights, eg
the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human
Beings 2005.
JUSTICE
and Liberty's joint submission to the UN Human Rights Council's forthcoming
examination of the UK under the new Universal Periodic Review procedure
Read a copy of the joint submission here
(November 2007)
JUSTICE
and Liberty's joint submission to the UN Human Rights Committee on the
UK's 6th periodic report under the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights
Read a copy of the
joint submission here
(November 2007)
JUSTICE
International Rule of Law Lectures
For full transcript of the first lecture, Five
years on from 9/11: Time to reassert the rule of law, given
by Mary Robinson at Middle Temple
Hall on Monday 20 March 2006, click here
For full transcript of the second lecture, Extraordinary
Rendition: complicity and its consequences, given by Philippe
Sands QC at Middle Temple Hall on Monday 15 May 2006, click
here
Eminent
Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights
London, 24-25 April 2006
Click here
to read the brochure containing details of the Panel's work and here
to visit the Panel's website
JUSTICE
submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into human trafficking
Click here
to read the briefing (January 2006)
JUSTICE
and Liberty's joint submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights
inquiry into the UK's compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture
Read a copy of the joint submission here
or click here for a copy of
JUSTICE and Liberty's joint submission to the UN Committee against Torture
in November 2004 (September 2005)
JUSTICE
briefing on the proposed use of military commissions to try detainees
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
The military commissions as currently proposed by the US fall below the
accepted international standards for a fair trial. Click here for pdf
versions of the briefing
and appendix and here
for the press release (July 2003)
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Conferences
and training
Click
here to see upcoming events and conferences
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