ABSTRACT
The very first edition of this book dealt in considerable detail with the so-called Bill of Rights debate pre-1998 – the advantages and disadvantages of introducing a written human rights guarantee. It also considered the advantages and deficiencies of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It evaluated the various human rights enforcement mechanisms. The reception of the ECHR into UK law via the HRA has rendered that debate largely defunct, but knowledge of the history of the ECHR in the UK remains essential to an understanding of the background to the HRA, and the legal context that it should be placed in. Political and public support for some form of Bill of Rights grew overwhelming by the mid-1990s, but the resulting statute, the HRA, bears the hallmarks of several compromises which reflect the particular constitutional arrangements in the UK. In particular, it represents a compromise between the preservation of parliamentary sovereignty and protection for human rights.
