Eric Metcalfe

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA 2004) provides the primary framework for dealing with large-scale emergencies under UK law. This Practice Note covers the definition of emergency, interaction with human rights and the royal prerogative, use of the powers versus existing legislation, limitations on the power and process for making regulations.

This Practice Note provides a toolkit for defending a human rights challenge. It identifies the type and scope of human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Human Rights Act 1998, and considers the relevant duties and process under the UK legislation, with reference to key definitions, principles and defences.

This Practice Note outlines the main principles of statutory interpretation relevant to the protection of human rights in UK law, examining the relevant case law and principles, so that lawyers can take them into account when advising, and legislative drafters can ensure new legislation is drafted in accordance with these principles.

This Practice Note considers the doctrines of judicial deference and the margin of appreciation in the context of human rights law. Judicial deference (the weight given to the views of Parliament and executive as to proportionality of the interference), and the margin of appreciation (the leeway enjoyed by States to evaluate local needs and conditions impacting on implementing human rights), assist in determining whether a decision on point in a case constitutes a proportionate interference with one or more Convention rights within the competence of the legislature or executive.

This Practice Note considers the law around whether the decisions in cases taken to Strasbourg are binding on the UK. It outlines how the Human Rights Act 1998 gives effect to Convention rights and the extent of the mirror principle.

This Practice Note examines the combined effect of key terrorism legislation, explaining the powers conferred on the government to protect the UK from terrorism and the interaction with criminal law and human rights.

This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. It explained the background to the introduction of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016). . It provided an overview of the IPA 2016; a summary of the various reviews of the pre-existing regimes for the collection and retention of communications data under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA 2000) and the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA 2014) which led to IPA 2016 being passed.