Care Values and Practice Module

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Care Values and Practice Module

Portfolio Assessment 1

Question 1

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

(Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

On 10 December 1948 the general assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the declaration of the human rights act. The act was drawn up after the Second World War to prevent the repeat of the atrocities that happened during the conflict. During the nazi holocaust an estimated six million Jews were killed by gassing, shooting, disease and starvation, also political opponents, gays, gypsies, mental illnesses clergymen and people with learning disabilities were also subjected to torture and ultimately death. Fundamentally the universal declaration of human rights was introduced to prevent tyranny.

The European convention on human rights was drawn up in the form of articles which displays the rights and freedoms European people are to expect. There are thirty articles in total. If a person feels that their human rights have been infringed upon them may take their claim to Strasbourg and appeal to the European court of human rights. In 1998 these became law with effect from 2 October 2000 which meant that appeals could also take place in the UK, but decisions could be overturned in Strasbourg. The European court has the powers to rule against countries, for example the court ruled that the Republic of Ireland must eliminate the ban on homosexuality.

Recent legal battles which have hit headlines regarding human rights have included the case of Natallie Evans, who was left infertile after cancer treatment, took her case to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg on the grounds that her human rights were being infringed as she was being deprived of the right to have a family. Natallie Evans had endured defeats in the British courts and faced the destruction of the embryos, because her ex-fiancé withdrew his consent to use them. After taking this case to Strasbourg the European court ruled in favour of the destruction of the embryos after backing the British courts, ruling that Natallie Evan's right o a family life, enshrined in article 8 of the European convention on human rights, could not over-ride her ex-fiancé's withdrawal of consent.

A similar case is occurring in the Irish courts, but at present the Irish laws are unclear as to the status of the embryo in law, it is thought that this may clear that confusion which surrounds this.

Another case was baby charlotte who was born after 26 weeks gestation with vital organ damage. Physicians ruled for a DNR but her parents disagreed and took this to the High courts, the ruling was in favour of the physicians because even if Charlotte did survive her quality of life would be so poor that she should not be revived again.
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These cases illustrate the difficult decisions which need to be made on behalf of the human act declaration, and even after going through British courts with regards to human rights infringements, there is the chance the ruling can be over turned by the European Court in Strasbourg.

Question 2

In the case of Tisha it seems that most of her rights have been neglected, under the children's Act 2004. The social services, although acted in her best interest, and loco parentis failed to take a substantial amount in to consideration. She was placed in a ...

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