The Protection of Human Rights

What The Protection of Human Rights covers

The Protection of Human Rights is examined in AS Unit 2, Living and participating in a democracy — citizenship and rights. It covers the courts and the protection of rights, judicial review: grounds and remedies, judicial review in practice, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Human Rights Act in the courts, enforcing equality law, ombudsmen and commissioners, pressure and campaigning for rights and debates over the protection of rights in the UK.

The 12 subtopics

Each one has its own page. WJEC AS Government and Politics students sit this topic in the first year.

• The courts and the protection of rightsPrinciple of legality in statutory interpretation, three rights the common law has protected without any statute and what is meant by judicial deference.Open →
• Judicial review: grounds and remediesJudicial review, permission stage and ground of illegality.Open →
• Judicial review in practiceRecall questions on the landmark rulings from 1985 to 2023, how a government can respond to defeat, ouster clauses, the 2021 review, and whether review has grown too powerful.Open →
• The Universal Declaration of Human RightsTwo kinds of right contained in the Universal Declaration, legal status of the Universal Declaration and cultural relativist criticism of the Universal Declaration.Open →
• The European Convention on Human RightsRecall questions on the body that drafted it and Britain's part in that, the rights each article protects, and how the Convention differs from European Union law.Open →
• The European Court of Human RightsJudgment does the Strasbourg court give, margin of appreciation and interim measures.Open →
• The Human Rights Act 1998Declaration of incompatibility, remedial order and how the Act preserves parliamentary sovereignty.Open →
• The Human Rights Act in the courtsRecall questions on the detention and assisted dying rulings, the interpretive duty, how often incompatibility has been declared, positive obligations, and the committee that vets legislation.Open →
• Enforcing equality lawRecall questions on the commission and its powers, where a claim is brought and by when, how the burden of proof shifts, the duties on public bodies, and the gaps in enforcement.Open →
• Ombudsmen and commissionersRecall questions on maladministration and the MP filter, what an ombudsman can do when a complaint is upheld, the Welsh commissioners, and the limits of the remedy.Open →
• Pressure and campaigning for rightsTest case and third-party intervention.Open →
• Debates over the protection of rights in the UKRecall questions on the case each way, why sovereignty is the central weakness, security legislation and legal aid, proposed reforms, and comparison with codified systems.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take The Protection of Human Rights further

The same content, four other ways.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Give three ways the courts protect the rights of citizens.

   Model answer

   They apply statutes that confer rights, review the lawfulness of decisions by public bodies, and develop protections through the common law.

2. 2

   What is the principle of legality in statutory interpretation?

   Model answer

   Courts presume that Parliament did not intend to remove a fundamental right, so general or ambiguous words are read as leaving that right intact unless the statute says otherwise expressly.

3. 3

   Why is judicial independence a precondition for the protection of rights?

   Model answer

   A court can only hold the state to account if judges cannot be dismissed, pressured or rewarded by the ministers whose decisions they are reviewing.

4. 4

   Name three rights the common law has protected without any statute.

   Model answer

   The common law has protected access to the courts, the openness of hearings and the right to an unbiased decision-maker.

5. 5

   Why can UK courts not strike down an Act of Parliament?

   Model answer

   Parliamentary sovereignty makes an Act the highest source of domestic law, so no court has authority to declare one invalid.

6. 6

   What can a UK court do when a statute conflicts with a protected right?

   Model answer

   It can strain to read the statute compatibly, and if that is impossible a higher court can declare the incompatibility and leave it to Parliament to act.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

The Protection of Human Rights revision questions

Is The Protection of Human Rights examined at AS in WJEC Government and Politics?

Yes. It sits in AS Unit 2, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does The Protection of Human Rights cover in WJEC AS-Level Government and Politics?

12 subtopics: the courts and the protection of rights, judicial review: grounds and remedies, judicial review in practice, the universal declaration of human rights, the european convention on human rights, the european court of human rights, the human rights act 1998, the human rights act in the courts, enforcing equality law, ombudsmen and commissioners, pressure and campaigning for rights and debates over the protection of rights in the uk. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is The Protection of Human Rights organised?

By the WJEC 603-1979-3 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.