The Human Rights Act
The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force on 2nd October 2000. The Act has had a direct impact upon many aspects of our legal system. It regularly features in the press although it remains an area which is often misunderstood. The Act is directly enforceable against public bodies and persons whose functions are of a public nature. Whilst it cannot be enforced directly against private persons, its provisions are relevant in guiding the courts and tribunals in approaching existing common law and statutory rights.
As a firm of criminal specialists, we are principally concerned with how the Act has affected criminal law. The wide-ranging provisions impact on areas ranging from the procedure for collecting and compiling evidence to the use of covert, intrusive audio and visual surveillance.
