DOUBLE SESSION: Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Right

Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights ‘under threat’

This session will examine the origins of the Human Rights Act 1998 (the main source for the
protection of human rights in the UK), its relationship with the European Convention on
Human Rights (ECHR) and impact of the ECHR on UK law, taking as points of reference the
right to fair trial, the right to privacy, freedom of expression, freedom from discrimination,
prohibition of torture and other key rights. Students will be asked to reflect on how these
rights resonate with their everyday lives.

We will then examine the consequences for our human rights that would derive from the UK
potentially withdrawing from the European Convention or watering down relevant rights,
against the backdrop of continuous uncertainty over the future of the Human Rights Act
and the European Convention on Human Rights in the UK.

Human rights law and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement

Starting with a brief historical overview of the origins of Black Lives Matter (BLM), there will
be a focus on the historical links between BLM and other previous campaigns against police
brutality and institutional racism, and calls for racial equality and demands for justice in
both the US and the UK. Using case-studies, we will then look more closely at the demands
of the BLM movement and how these relate directly to the specific human rights contained
within the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act.

Finally, we will discuss how and to what extent the demands of the BLM movement go
beyond human rights law, focusing on the demand to defund the police, and how we might
collectively imagine emancipatory futures beyond legality and human rights.

These two sessions will be followed by an opportunity for participants to discuss issues relating to human rights and Black Lives Matter.