December 20, 2006
by Stephen
0 comments
In a response to a petition on the PM’s website calling for the “halt to the erosion of civil liberties and rights,” the Prime Minister’s Office responded saying that “The majority of the Convention rights are, however, limited or qualified. Examples of these rights include: the right to respect for private and family life; and the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Limited and qualified Convention rights can be restricted.”
So after they’ve taken the rest of my civil liberties will the government be sending round the thought police to make sure I’m not thinking any “terrorist thoughts”? I’m sure I accidentally thought of a few just reading the PM’s statement.
I’d ask if Tony Blair has a conscience about removing people’s civil liberties, but it appears he has limited his right to one.
The full response from the PM to the petition can be found below and at
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page10666.asp
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/liberty/
Thank you for your petition dated 16 November entitled “Halt the erosion of civil liberties and rights”
Human rights belong to everyone in the United Kingdom and give a very important means of protection for all. The Human Rights Act puts public authorities including Government, hospitals and social services under an obligation to treat people with fairness, equality, dignity and respect. It ensures a level of service below which no public authority should fall. The Act offers a way to tackle problems including substandard care and poor service. You are given added protection by the Act allowing you, as a last resort, to bring a case against a public authority in a UK court.
The Act secures a fair balance between the general interests of society and the protection of the fundamental rights of each individual. Everyone has the benefit of the rights and freedoms protected by the Human Rights Act. Only a few of the rights protected by the Human Rights Act are absolute. They include protection against torture, slavery and retrospective criminal penalties. The Government believes that these rights should be absolute in recognition that such treatment can never be justified in a civilised, democratic society, even where the person seeking to rely on their human rights has committed a crime.
The majority of the Convention rights are, however, limited or qualified. Examples of these rights include: the right to respect for private and family life; and the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Limited and qualified Convention rights can be restricted. The types of reasons the state can give for interfering with the individual’s rights include: the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country; for the prevention of disorder or crime; for the protection of health or morals; or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. The more serious the threat is to the general public interest, the more stringent the measures are that can be justified.
Criminals do not always have the unrestricted right to the freedoms contained in the Human Rights Act. Indeed the Act specifically stipulates that people convicted of crimes can be deprived of their liberty and should not be released from prison early if they present a serious danger to others. Those who have no right to reside in the UK can be detained to prevent them entering the country while steps are taken to deport them.
The petition states that we are sacrificing the rights of British Citizens by altering anti-terror legislation. The UK has been subject to a sustained campaign of terrorism for more than 30 years – initially emanating from Northern Ireland but now more international in character – and this experience has shown how the balance between necessary legislation and protecting human rights can be struck.
We have managed to achieve the appropriate balance between the measures necessary to deal with the very real threat to national security posed by terrorism, and the need to avoid diminishing the civil and human rights of the population. All of our anti-terrorism measures have to be sent in the context of our general commitment to human rights and the protection of individual freedoms, including the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 which made the rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) enforceable in domestic courts.
