ABSTRACT
Section 2 of the Act provides that courts and tribunals must consider the
European jurisprudence in the interpretation of Convention law; s 3
provides that, when interpreting legislation, whenever enacted, courts
and tribunals must read and give effect to it in a way which is
compatible with the Convention rights, as far as possible; and s 6 makes
it unlawful for public authorities, including courts, to act in a way
which is incompatible with the Convention unless they are required to
do so by statute. Criminal litigation accounts for the majority of
applications in cases from England and Wales to the European Court of
Human Rights. This article therefore considers some of the recent
decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in criminal cases as
they give an indication of the European jurisprudence which must be
considered by the English courts in accordance with s 2 of the Human
Rights Act 1998.
