The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into UK law and the preamble to the HRA states that its purpose is to "give further effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights".
Furthermore, section 2(1) of the HRA asserts that "A court or tribunal determining a question which has arisen in connection with a Convention right must take into account Convention rights" and any determinations by the European Court of Human Rights . Moreover, section 3(1) imposes a positive obligation on judicial authorities to interpret all legislation "in away which is compatible with the Convention rights". Accordingly, the HRA "has had the effect of incorporating the European Convention on Human rights into our law giving individuals rights which can be directly enforced in the UK courts ". Additionally, section 6 of the HRA provides that "it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right".
[...] Indeed, the ACAS Code on “Bullying and harassment at work: guidance for employees” (the Code)[25] provides guidance on what constitutes bullying and harassment in the workplace and employers are now liable if failure to protect employees from third party harassment is unreasonable[26]. Additionally, the Chartered Management Institute has published a guide for employers entitled “Religion and Belief in the Workplace”[27]. However, the practical application of this has proved problematic, further compounded by media attention. For example, in Azmi v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council[28]the EAT upheld the employment tribunal's finding that orders to remove the veil when teaching was neither direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of religion or belief. [...]
[...] However, in order to bring a claim for indirect race discrimination is inherently limited and applicants have to establish that they are part of an ethnic group and that the discrimination is on grounds of his race in order to incidentally protect the right to religious expression. The RRA does not define “race or ethnic group”, however in the leading case of Mandla v Dowell Lee[18]the House of Lords held that in considering the definition of ethnic group it had to be “identifiable in terms of its ethnic origins if it is a segment of the population distinguished from others by a sufficient combination of shared customs . [...]
[...] In addition to discussing the case law, Edge's book provided a fantastic commentary on the controversial topic and I learned that the wide variety of rights impacted by fundamental right to religious expression necessarily requires a balancing act to ensure that the overall objectives of the ECHR rights are protected at large. Moreover, I found the European Convention on Human Rights and the Protocols (particularly Article vital in evaluating the various fundamental rights and freedoms under the ECHR and their relationship with each other. [...]
[...] 4th Edition Oxford University Press Painter and Holmes., (2006). Cases and Materials on Employment Law. 6th Edition Pitt, Gwyneth., (2007). Employment Law. 6th Edition Sweet & Maxwell. European Convention of Human Rights Race Relations Act 1976 Human Rights Act 1998 Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 Equality Act 2006 www.hri.org www.managers.org.uk www.opsi.gov.uk Available at www.hri.org Section 2 of the HRA 1998. Greer Hogan (2002). Constitutional and Administrative Law. Sweet and Maxwell. (1993) 17 EHRR 397 (1978) ) 3 EHRR [...]
[...] The focus of this analysis is to consider the extent to which rights to religious expression are given sufficient protection in schools and workplaces and I shall address each in turn Religious Expression in Schools The HRA 1998 imposes an obligation on UK courts to consider ECHR determinations and the Article 9 right, which requires a consideration of the importance given to the Article 9 rights by judicial authority. Firstly, the relationship of the Article 9 rights with other ECHR rights is evidenced in the case of Kokkinakis v Greece[4] where the ECHR asserted that the Article 9 right as regards religion was one of the most vital elements to go to make up identity of believers and therefore this would give special protection to religious views over and above other democratic rights under the ECHR. [...]
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