ABSTRACT
In many Western democracies, the rights of citizens are enshrined in a constitutional document sometimes known as a Bill or Charter of Rights. Until the inception of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), the UK had no similar charter of rights. In 2000, when it came fully into force, the HRA afforded further effect to the European Convention on Human Rights (see Part II Chapter 2) in domestic law. Thus, UK citizens could rely for the first time on an instrument resembling a Bill of Rights. This chapter will contrast the current methods of protecting human rights and freedoms under the HRA with the methods used pre-HRA. It will try to show that although the HRA has brought about significant changes, it can be viewed as forming part of a process as opposed to creating abrupt and radical change in that protection. Further, its inception was not intended to entail fundamental constitutional change.
