1 Overview
Introduction
1. This is the second annual report by the Joint
Committee on Human Rights,[1]
in which we set out our activities during the 2007-08 parliamentary
session.[2] We also highlight
areas in which the Government has enhanced human rights during
the year as well as areas of concern, and comment on our working
practices, which continue to evolve. In addition, we are publishing
with this Report the oral evidence we heard from the Chair of
the Equality and Human Rights Commission on 14 October and from
the Home Secretary on 28 October, memoranda associated with that
evidence, and other papers we received during the session but
have not published elsewhere.
Our remit and the core tasks
2. The Joint Committee on Human Rights is comprised
of twelve Members, drawn equally from the House of Commons and
the House of Lords. Our remit is broad: "to consider matters
relating to human rights in the UK", although we are unable
to deal with individual cases. We are also required to report
to the House in relation to remedial orders (as well as proposals
for remedial orders and draft remedial orders), which are statutory
instruments made under the Human Rights Act 1998 in order to deal
with legislative provisions which the courts have ruled to be
incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Remedial
orders have been brought forward infrequently and there were none
for us to consider in 2007-08.
3. As a joint committee, with a remit which cuts
across the responsibilities of all Government departments, we
do not have a specific department to hold to account in terms
of service delivery or expenditure. As a consequence, not all
of the core tasks first elaborated by the Commons Liaison Committee
in 2002 are relevant to our work.[3]
The relevance of specific core tasks to our work is set out in
Table 1.Table
1: JCHR and the core tasks set out by the Commons Liaison Committee
| Task 1: To examine policy proposals from the UK Government and the European Commission in Green Papers, White Papers, draft Guidance etc, and to inquire further where the Committee considers it appropriate.
| Relevant |
| Task 2: To identify and examine areas of emerging policy, or where existing policy is deficient, and make proposals.
| Relevant |
| Task 3: To conduct scrutiny of any published draft bill within the Committee's responsibilities.
| Relevant |
| Task 4: To examine specific output from the department expressed in documents or other decisions.
| Relevant |
| Task 5: To examine the expenditure plans and out-turn of the department, its agencies and principal NDPBs.
| Not relevant |
| Task 6: To examine the department's Public Service Agreements, the associated targets and the statistical measurements employed, and report if appropriate.
| Not relevant |
| Task 7: To monitor the work of the department's Executive Agencies, NDPBs, regulators and other associated public bodies.
| Relevant only in relation to Human Rights Division of the Ministry of Justice, the Equality and Human Rights Commission and other human rights institutions
|
| Task 8: To scrutinise major appointments made by the department.
| Relevant only in relation to the Equality and Human Rights Commission
|
| Task 9: To examine the implementation of legislation and major policy initiatives.
| Relevant |
| Task 10: To produce reports which are suitable for debate in the House, including Westminster Hall, or debate in committees.
| Relevant |
Overview of our work
4. Our work can broadly be divided into three distinct
categories:[4]
- Legislative scrutiny: the scrutiny
of Government Bills, in particular, as well as other bills, draft
bills, statutory instruments, consultation documents and other
legislative proposals for compatibility with human rights;
- Thematic inquiries: inquiries into issues relating
to human rights in the UK, similar to the inquiries undertaken
by departmental select committees in the Commons except that we
frequently consider issues which cut across departmental boundaries;
- Scrutiny of Government responses to adverse judgments
by the European Court of Human Rights and declarations of incompatibility
by the UK courts: we monitor, and periodically report on, the
action arising from all relevant court cases, including those
which lead to remedial orders, as mentioned above.
These strands of work are closely inter-related.
For example, our scrutiny of the Government's counter-terrorism
proposals has involved both thematic investigation and the scrutiny
of specific legislative provisions. We have also raised adverse
Strasbourg judgments in the context of our legislative scrutiny
work. Nevertheless, the distinction between these types of work
is useful in understanding the way in which we undertake our scrutiny
of the Government.
5. Further, cross-cutting, aspects to our work concern
consideration of the international human rights instruments to
which the UK is a signatory, including the extent to which the
UK meets its international obligations under those instruments,
and scrutinising new human rights treaties prior to their ratification;
the implementation of the Human Rights Act; and the work of the
UK's human rights institutions, in particular the Equality and
Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
6. Table 2 shows the main issues we have considered
across all the different strands of our work in 2007-08, illustrating
the considerable breadth of our activity.Table
2: JCHR activity in 2007-08, by theme
| Subject | Activity
| Outcome |
| Adults with learning disabilities
| Thematic inquiry | Report, February
|
| Anti-social behaviour |
Legislative scrutiny | Report, January
|
| Bill of Rights | Thematic inquiry
| Report, August |
| Blasphemy | Legislative scrutiny
| Reports, January, March
|
| Child maintenance | Legislative scrutiny
| Report, December |
| Children and young people
| Legislative scrutiny |
Reports, January, March, May
|
| Counter-terrorism policy
| Legislative scrutiny and thematic inquiry
| Reports, December, February, May, June, October; mini-conference, May
|
| Court judgments finding breaches of human rights: Government response
| Ongoing scrutiny | Report, October; debate in House of Lords, November
|
| Criminal justice matters
| Legislative scrutiny |
Reports, January, March, July
|
| Data protection | Legislative scrutiny
| Report, March |
| Deaths in custody | Follow up of previous inquiry
| Correspondence |
| Disability Rights Convention
| Scrutiny of UN human rights instruments
| Oral evidence, November; report in preparation
|
| Equality and Human Rights Commission
| Ongoing scrutiny | Oral evidence, October
|
| Housing | Legislative scrutiny
| Report, April |
| Human fertilisation and embryology
| Legislative scrutiny |
Report, March |
| Human rights policy |
Ongoing scrutiny | Oral evidence with EHRC, October; correspondence
|
| Human trafficking | Follow up of previous inquiry
| Correspondence; mini-conference, July
|
| Immigration policy and rules
| Legislative scrutiny |
Report, January; oral evidence, February and October; correspondence
|
| Industrial action by prison officers
| Legislative scrutiny |
Reports, January, March |
| Meaning of public authority under the Human Rights Act
| Follow up of previous inquiry
| Reports, February, March, April; mini-conference, January
|
| Mental health | Legislative scrutiny
| Report, March |
| Miscarriages of justice, compensation for
| Legislative scrutiny |
Report, January |
| NHS premises, nuisance or disorder on
| Legislative scrutiny |
Report, March |
| Older people in healthcare
| Follow up of previous inquiry
| Reports, February and March; correspondence; mini-conference, October
|
| Policing and protest |
Thematic inquiry | Oral evidence ongoing
|
| Pornography, extreme |
Legislative scrutiny | Reports, January, March
|
| Public health, protection of
| Legislative scrutiny |
Report, March |
| Secure training centres, use of restraint in
| Legislative scrutiny |
Report, March; debate in House of Lords, July
|
| Sex offenders | Legislative scrutiny
| Report, March |
| Sexual orientation, incitement on grounds of
| Legislative scrutiny |
Reports, January and March |
| Student loans | Legislative scrutiny
| Report, March |
| Trade union membership |
Legislative scrutiny | Report, April
|
| Travellers and Gypsies |
Legislative scrutiny | Report, April
|
| Treatment of asylum seekers
| Follow up of previous inquiry
| Correspondence; debate in Westminster Hall, December; mini-conference, July
|
| UN Convention Against Torture
| Follow up of previous inquiry
| Report, July |
| Violent Offender Orders
| Legislative scrutiny |
Reports, January, March |
7. Table 3 shows the core tasks relevant to each
inquiry or activity undertaken during the year.Table
3: JCHR activity in 2007-08, by core tasks set out by the Commons
Liaison Committee
| Inquiry/ activity
| Task 1: examination of policy proposals
| Task 2: emerging policy
| Task 3: draft bills
| Task 4: specific output
| Tasks 7/8: work of public bodies/major appointments
| Task 9: implementation of legislation
| Task 10: debates
|
| Adults with learning disabilities
| | X |
| | | X
| |
| Court judgments finding breaches of human rights
| | | | X
| | | X
|
| Counter-terrorism policy
| X | |
X | X
| | X |
X |
| Data protection and human rights
| | | | X
| | X |
|
| Disability Rights Convention
| X | |
| | | X
| |
| Human rights policy/work of EHRC
| | | |
| X | |
|
| Human trafficking | X
| X | |
| | |
|
| Immigration policy and rules
| | X |
X | |
| X | |
| Legislative scrutiny |
X | | X
| X | |
| X |
| Meaning of public authority
| X | |
X | |
| X | X
|
| Older people in healthcare
| | X |
| | | X
| X |
| Policing and protest |
| X |
| | | X
| |
| Secure training centres, use of restraint
| | | | X
| | X |
|
| Treatment of asylum seekers
| | X |
| | | X
| X |
| UK Bill of Rights |
| X | |
| | |
|
| UN Convention Against Torture
| | | |
| | X |
|
8. The remainder of this report deals in more detail
with our work in 2007-08, drawing out some of these themes from
our legislative scrutiny and illustrating some of the more controversial
and innovative aspects of our other work. We also comment on developments
in our working practices and indicate some of the issues we intend
to scrutinise further during the remainder of the current Parliament.
9. More detailed information about the Committee
and our work in 2007-08 can be found in annex 1.
1 Our first annual report was Sixth Report, Session
2007-08, The Work of the Committee in 2007 and the State of
Human Rights in the UK, HC270, HL Paper 38. (hereafter 2007
annual report). The Government Reply was published as Eighteenth
Report, Session 2007-08, Government Response to the Committee's
Sixth Report of Session 2007-08: The Work of the Committee in
2007 and the State of Human Rights in the UK, HC 526, HL Paper
103 (hereafter 2007 annual report: Government reply). Back
2
The session ran from 6 November 2007 to 26 November 2008. There
is a little overlap with our annual report for 2007, which covered
the calendar year and was agreed by the Committee on 21 January
2008. Back
3
For more on the core tasks see Liaison Committee, Third Report
of Session 2007-08, The work of committees in 2007, HC
427. Back
4
For a more detailed breakdown of our work see Twenty-third Report
of Session 2005-06, The Committee's Future Working Practices,
HC 1575, HL Paper 239, (hereafter Working practices report)
part 2. Back
|
