Human Rights Joint Committee - Fifteenth Report
Enhancing Parliament's role in relation to human rights judgments

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Here you can browse the report together with the Proceedings of the Committee. The published report was ordered by the House of Lords and the House of Commons to be printed 9 March 2010.

Contents

Terms of Reference

Summary

1 Introduction

Crisis at the European Court of Human Rights

The Interlaken Declaration

Increasing Parliament's involvement in national implementation of the Convention

Why are court judgments any of Parliament's business?

National implementation of the Convention in the UK

The scope of our report

Our evolving methodology

2 Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights

The UK's Record on the Implementation of Strasbourg Judgments

Recent judgments against the United Kingdom

Detention of foreign terrorism suspects (A v UK)

Retention of DNA profiles and cellular samples (S & Marper v UK)

Summary possession of people's homes (McCann v UK)

Interception of communications (Liberty v UK)

Prisoners' correspondence with medical practitioners (Szuluk v UK)

Care proceedings (RK and AK v UK)

Length of criminal confiscation proceedings (Bullen and Soneji v UK)

Delays in implementation

Prisoners' voting rights (Hirst v UK)

Security of Tenure for Gypsies and Travellers (Connors v UK)

Interim measures (Rule 39 Cases)

3 Declarations of Incompatibility

Introduction

Recent declarations of incompatibility

Suitability of care workers to work with vulnerable adults (Wright v Secretary of State for Health)

Unremedied declarations of incompatibility

Religious discrimination in sham marriages regime (Baiai v Secretary of State for the Home Department)

Discrimination in access to social housing (Morris v Westminster CityCouncil)

Prisoners' voting rights (Smith v Electoral Registration Officer)

4 Systemic issues

Introduction

The Government system for responding to judgments

Guidance for Departments

Minimal compliance or full implementation?

Provision of information to Parliament

Prompt notification of Parliament

Action Plans

Information on systemic issues

Other ways of improving parliamentary scrutiny

Target Timetables

Recognising the interpretative authority of the Strasbourg Court

Effect of judgments against the UK

Effect of judgments against other States

Greater co-ordination with Council of Europe bodies

Conclusions and recommendations

Annex: Guidance for Departments on Responding to Court Judgments on Human Rights

Formal Minutes

List of written evidence

Written evidence

List of Reports from the Committee since 2007-08

Written Evidence (additional)

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Prepared 26 March 2010