On an orthodox approach, legislation of the UK Parliament is interpreted by courts, but not reviewed by them against legal standards. The Human Rights Act 1998 enables such review and empowers courts to declare Acts of Parliament in contravention of those standards. In so doing, it advances constitutionalism, in the sense of there being legal limits on governmental power (putting to one side other potential sources of limitation such as the now repealed European Communities Act 1972). However, there may be some tension between the balancing stage of the proportionality test applied in the adjudication of human rights violations and the position that the limits imposed by the Human Rights Act are “legal” in nature.
The UK government now proposes to repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a Bill of Rights. This post examines two aspects of the proposed Bill of Rights – the preservation…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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