HUMAN RIGHTS ACT – STANDING UP FOR BRITAIN
AND CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
A big thank you to the IPPR for organising this event – in partnership with Group 4 Securitas, the RNIB and Richards Butler.
The IPPR – and Sarah Spencer in particular – have given steadfast help and support with the Human Rights Act. Right from when it was less than a twinkle in the legislative eye, to now, when they are a driving force on the Human Rights Task Force. Helping us in ways such as today’s Conference.
It’s good to have this chance to acknowledge Sarah’s work publicly.
Introduction
I won’t speak for too long. I want to cover three general areas:
Standing up for Britain
But first what I mean about standing up for Britain.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The Human Rights Act is probably the most significant constitutional change since the 1688 Bill of Rights. That’s one of the reasons we allowed a lead time of two years for public authorities to prepare for it.
The Act is part of a package of reforms which really will modernise the old constitutional settlement between the citizen, his and her fellow citizens, and the state. It’s a serious job - and it needs doing.
You hear people who call themselves patriotic say "if it ain’t broke, don’t mend it". You wouldn’t let someone with that attitude look after a whelk stall, let alone your country. Its just an excuse for ignorance and neglect.
The great strength of our country is our ability to evolve and adapt our institutions to changing circumstances. You can’t do that by burying your head in the sand. It means maintenance, not neglect. It means reinforcing things, so that they don’t get broke. And it means working to make them even better.
We have to stand up for a proper balance of rights and responsibilities between the citizen, his and her fellow citizen and the state. And that’s where the Human Rights Act comes in.
The Human Rights Act is also about standing up for the best British values of fairness, respect for human dignity, and inclusiveness. Those are the basic values which the Human Rights Act will bring to bear. They come from the European Convention on Human Rights, which was largely British-inspired as it happens. Our lawyers played a big part in drafting the European Convention after the last war. That’s why we said that we were "bringing rights home" when we proposed the Human Rights Act.
The Human Rights Act will help us rediscover and renew the basic common values that hold us all together. And those are also the values which inform the duties of the good citizen. I believe that, in time, the Human Rights Act will help bring about a culture of rights and responsibilities across the UK.
How the Act works
Heard it all before? Doesn’t affect you? The Act is about practical change, not pie in the sky or political moonshine. And, yes, it almost certainly does affect you, both professionally and personally.
It works like this. The Human Rights Act takes a set of basic civil and political rights. These basic civil and political rights are not new. The UK signed up to them 50 years ago. We’ve sought to comply ever since. But the Human Rights Act gives that set of rights a special status in UK law:
I’ll say something in just a moment about exactly who are meant by public authorities. But for now let’s assume that public authority means you. And can I say it’s really good to see so many of you here today, taking the trouble to find out how the Act might affect you?
The point I’m making is pretty simple really. What it boils down to is that the Convention rights, and the Strasbourg law that goes with them, are going to become an anchor for our laws and policies and a sail for service delivery.
Let’s be clear that the Human Rights Act isn’t like the American Bill of Rights. It doesn’t stop Parliament from making whatever Acts it chooses - nor does it stop us keeping Acts of Parliament on the statute book. We aren’t giving up Parliamentary sovereignty. But the general rule is that public authorities which don’t measure up to the Convention yardstick may be in trouble. And that’s why preparing for the Act is so important.
"Public authority"
A key term in the Human Rights Act is "public authority". The Act gives a wide meaning to "public authority". There is quite a bit of background and law to this, but the basic effect is that a court can treat you, or a part of you, as a public authority even if you are outside the central or local government machine. What matters is what you do and how that affects people’s rights. And I guess that what most of you here today do includes some public authority function. Charities like the NSPCC, who prosecute. Regulators, looking after public services independently of government. Nursing homes. Housing associations. Railtrack. Bodies like Group 4, though a private, not nationalised, concern, with both private and public authority functions.
For some of you, giving a fair hearing to people may be the issue. For others there may be issues about privacy. For all of you, discrimination is something you will want to avoid. It’s a question of sorting out the relevant human rights and understanding what it means for your work.
Corporate citizens
But you should all look at the Human Rights Act as an opportunity, not a threat. Use it as a chance to develop your corporate citizenship agenda. Anyone dealing with the public, let alone public authorities, should have respect for human rights at the core of their work. If it isn’t at the core of your work, take another look at what you’re doing. Will central and local government want to award or renew contracts to companies shown to be negligent about trample on human rights? I don’t advise anyone to run his or her business on that risk. The policy and legal framework for procurement can and does take account of impropriety. And so it should.
The arrival of the Act confirms what we all knew. That the privilege – I’ll tell you who used that word in a moment – the privilege of providing public services carries with it a special duty of care. A duty to deliver them in a way that respects fairness and the dignity of the human person.
The Human Rights Act helps you define fairness and the dignity of the human person. It tells you what the guiding principles are. You can develop and demonstrate your best practice using that framework.
You don’t need me to tell you that demonstrating best practice can help to improve a company’s corporate reputation. Ask Group 4 – you’ll be hearing from Jim Harrower, Senior Executive Vice President later this morning.
Yes, he’s the one who used that old-fashioned word privilege about serving the public.
I’ve been shown a copy of Group 4’s Senior Management Workshop Manual on Human Rights. It’s very impressive. They’ve been working on their human rights programme since last Autumn. Let me quote: "The Act is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate to ourselves and others how our company is already putting human rights into practice." The manual also points out that a wise company can use the Act as a lever to raise the level of all its services. The Act is becoming an integral part of Group 4’s corporate strategy and management systems approach. They’ve got a human rights task force and an action plan, including a toolkit for auditing practice, and a training plan.
But this isn’t rocket science. Nor is there anything new about British companies recognising that they operate in a public and social context.
You’ll find well developed equal opportunities and anti-discrimination policies in many leading firms in this country. Not because the Government’s forcing them to – but because it makes good business sense.
Ford’s partnership with the TGWU on combating racism. BT. The WH Smith Group. They all know fair play makes business sense – and they’re doing something about it.
Now, as I said a few moments ago, the Human Rights Act places all public authorities, and those whose work includes public authority functions, under a duty. It’s a statutory duty not to act incompatibly with the Convention rights. That means you need to be clear about what the Convention rights are, and so do your staff.
Don’t panic
There’s no need to get panicked about this. We are talking about pretty basic civil and political rights. The right to life, right to liberty, freedom of expression, religion and belief, privacy of home life, discrimination in the enjoyment of the rights and so on. True, you will need to keep an eye on how they have been interpreted by the European Court in Strasbourg and by our domestic courts. But they remain civil and political rights.
Take a look at the Home Office leaflet sent out with the Conference packs. You’ll see the range of rights covered. Social or economic rights, like the right to a job, a minimum wage and so on, are not included. The Human Rights Act doesn’t cover everything, and Parliament – not the judges – is going to carry on turning the democratic will into the law of the land.
There is a second reason not to get panicked. By and large, this country’s arrangements already comply with the Convention rights. To hear some people speak you’d think that the Human Rights Act is telling us something we didn’t know or care about. But successive Governments have considered the Convention implications of new legislation for the last fifty years. There have been improvements made to our laws as a result of the Convention:-PACE,IOCA, the security Services and Intelligence Services legislation.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be challenged after October when the Act comes into force. Or that nothing will change. But we’ll take the challenges as and when they come.
I’m sure we’ll all be interested to see what our courts and the common law will make of the Human Rights Act after implementaion on 2 October 2000. But until then please don’t get too bogged down by pundits who claim they can give a precise read out now, based entirely on the case law of the Strasbourg authorities. They can’t. I welcome the interest of the legal profession. But we should beware of categorical assertions from lawyers about what is going to happen after 2 October
We are strengthening the ability of individuals to secure their rights. But this needs to be seen in the context of the courts’ wider approach to individual rights and responsibilities. It is the courts who have the job of weaving it all into our arrangements. I have confidence they will be sensible.
Let me make another thing clear - about the culture of rights and responsibilities we are looking to build here. It’s about getting all citizens to understand, not just what their rights really are, but also that rights and responsibilities are different sides of the same coin. I’d like to explain that.
Rights and responsibilities
Too many Convention pundits focus only on enforcement and litigation. They are not really talking about the here and now of human rights at all.
And, yes, there is a lot of international talk about moving from "rights proclaimed" to "rights enforced". Quite right.
But this approach skips the important matter of the "rights enjoyed". I’m interested in how you actually get your rights, as well as what happens when you don’t. Shared acceptance of individual responsibility is the bedrock of a sound and stable society. Lofty stuff, but we’re really talking about is that old idea that you should do as you would be done by.
It’s true. Rights don’t make a lot of sense unless you can create a culture where people respect the rights of others and are aware of their responsibilities. If you don’t believe me go and talk to people who live near pubs in city centres about their right to the peaceful enjoyment of their lives on Friday and Saturday nights. The State doesn’t give them the full enjoyment of their rights simply by sending in the police. That can restore the peace, but can’t give them back the peace that was taken away. Only people at the grassroots can give that to each other - the full enjoyment of the rights.
So it’s not just about legislation. That’s just the bottom line. It’s about education, awareness. Above all, it’s about balance. Most of the rights in the Human Rights Act are not absolute. In almost every case, it is open for the public authority to limit the right or balance one right against another.
So you shouldn’t run for cover every time a lawyer finds a point about the Convention to throw at you. What you do need to do is to ask yourselves the right questions about the Convention rights. It is about looking at how you treat the public and putting yourselves in their shoes. Do as you would be done by. Do that and then we will be more than halfway there.
Conclusion
I know that Robin Allen QC – a distinguished member of the Human Rights Task Force - will be talking to you a bit later about what might count as a public authority under the Human Rights Act. Robin, they tell me you are also going to do your famous "25 things you need to know about the Human Rights Act." The last time I heard it there were 12 things you had to know! And there are only 22 sections in the whole of the Human Rights Act!
But seriously, I’d like to get in first with Jack Straw’s three things you need to know about the Human Rights Act. In fact, I’ve given them to you already – which must mean that I’m into the conclusions part of my talk.
It can help you improve your best practice and serve the public even better. Your corporate image and commercial appeal should benefit. So should the general culture of the company or voluntary body and its practice. And so should the culture of public services too.
Help is available. You will pick up useful leads and examples of good practice at this Seminar. But you shouldn’t forget that nine times out of ten there is a Government Department involved, or ultimately accountable for what you are doing.
My Department has pulled out the stops to help. The general policy – the Home Office Permanent Secretary has stressed this point to all his Whitehall colleagues – is that all Government Departments should engage in a dialogue with their associated public authorities and contractors about preparing for the Human Rights Act. You’ve got the Home Office leaflet with the basic information. And many of you have visited our website and read up on the training opportunities we advertise there. But talk to the relevant Department, if you are not doing that already. We’ve asked every Department to appoint a designated human rights contact point. So make sure that you are plugged into the preparation process.
And don’t forget that the Act has some real benefits for you. As Group 4 point out, treating people properly is good for business as well as good for the country. Standing up for human rights means standing up for your business and well as standing up for Britain. Good citizenship makes good sense and it doesn’t stop when you get into the office.