The term 'human rights' carries connotations of a wide range of possibilities; some may think immediately of the right to have important needs met, a right to shelter or to food.

The term "human rights" carries connotations of a wide range of possibilities; some may think immediately of the right to have important needs met, a right to shelter or to food. International law often guarantees those rights within the means of a government. As Canadians, we often think of a right to health care or a right to vote in elections. These rights are guaranteed in legislation, or even in constitutional law. Human rights also include a right to equality, a right to equal dignity and participation in important areas of life, including work (Hess, 1993). Human rights protection means both ensuring that there are no violations of these rights (prohibiting discrimination, for example) and a positive obligation to increase the dignity and ability to participate in society of all members of a society (Armitage, 1996; Hess, 1993). An important equality protection, Employment Equity, in Canada is set out in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which contains a guarantee of equality in the labour market (Employment Equity Act, 1996). The Charter guarantee of equality is powerful, and establishes a floor of human rights that the government is required to meet. It is unacceptable for any government in Canada to act in a way that discriminates against a person or group. In support of my opening statements, the aim of this paper is to prove that relative poverty among

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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The right to a fair trial is one of the key points established within the human rights act 1998.

The right to a fair trial is one of the key points established within the human rights act 1998. ECHR Article 6 (1) & (3)(c), in summary, states that everyone charged with a criminal offence is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law and has the right: 'to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require'. Article 6 is one of the most significant convention articles and the one that is most frequently found to be violated.1 The far-reaching powers contained in new legislation have led the Government to derogate from Article 5 of the ECHR just over a year after the HRA came into force2. This decision flies in the face of the Government's commitment to human rights and has proved difficult to justify, as I will show in this assignment. Since the beginning of the 21st century the British Government has introduced two new pieces of legislation to deal with the now worldwide threat of terrorism. The Terrorism Act 2000 is the primary piece of UK counter-terrorist legislation and it has introduced new measures in the fight against terrorism. Passed by Parliament on 20 July 2000, it came into force on 19 February 2001 in response to the changing threat

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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How democratic was the British parliamentary system by 1914.

How Democratic was the British Parliamentary System by 1914 There is no doubt that by 1914 Britain was a democratic country. Compared to the 19th century where the country was governed by the so-called 'natural leaders' and the monarch, it had gone far to reach the level of democracy. The main reason that 'triggered' of the rest of the changes was the constant legislation and reform acts being passed. This was vital because not only did it improve social conditions but also increased the franchise. This meant more and more people getting the vote which gradually decreased the power of both the Monarchy and House of Lords, who had taken it as their duty to rule the country. As mentioned above the main reason for Britain becoming a democratic state was the constant legislation being passed. In essence democracy means for the people by the people. However it had progressed greatly form the early 19th century. The first great reform that took place was the Great Reform Act of 1832. This was the first great reform and many politicians after this predicted that more reform was inevitable. Peel said, 'I was unwilling to open the door which I saw no prospect of being able to close,' and how right he was. Although with hindsight it can be seen that it wasn't as great as it seemed, the major thing was that it was one of the first steps of both the Monarchy and House of Lords losing

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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How are human rights protected in the UK system? What is the basic relationship between the UK courts and Strasbourg?

How are human rights protected in the UK system? What is the basic relationship between the UK courts and Strasbourg? When considering how human rights are protected in the UK, it is important to consider how traditional approaches to human rights protection have proved ineffective. The Diceyan approach stated that common law protected human rights, allowing people to be as 'free' as they like, as long as the law allowed them to be (i.e. Entick v Carrington [1765). This reliance on common law proved to be ineffective in protecting human rights for a number of reasons. If the common law allows citizens to be 'free' to anything not prohibited by law, the same applies to the Government, which may violate individual freedom in this manner (i.e. Malone v Metropolitan Police Commissioner). Additionally, while Parliament in previous centuries could provide a 'watchdog' on executive power, this is no longer the case in the 20th/21st century where the party system has lead to majority based governments that can enact statutory legislation with minimal restrictions. As such, Governments are more capable than ever in their ability to erode human rights through legislation. To counter these growing powers, the UK's adoption of the European Convention on Human Rights (ratified in UK in 1951) and the Human Rights Act [1998] have been fundamental in protecting human rights. The ECHR,

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Decriminalize Prostitution

Decriminalize Prostitution Introduction Every now and then, and almost in every part of the world, we hear of looked- down and probably the most discriminated men and women in the society-we call them prostitutes. I say looked-down and discriminated since it is undeniable that society frowns at this group of people, for looking at it in the moral perspective, prostitution may be morally wrong. Yet, the society looks at them like criminals, worse than just morally flawed people. It would be better if we probe into the issue starting on how it is defined and how it works. Eventually, let's try to weigh down things and see that prostitution really is not a punishable act as that of a crime, and that there are no legal justifications to consider it as one. Prostitution: Its Definition and How it Works Legally speaking, prostitution is a term that "generally means the commission by a person of any natural or unnatural sexual act, deviate sexual intercourse, or sexual contact for monetary considerations or other thing of value" (Prostitution Law and Legal Definition, 2005). Prostitutes may either be male or female, young or old who engages in any sexual or sexually related activity in exchange for money most commonly, or of other valuable things. In most places however, prostitutes are commonly female, of male customers or clients (Legal Definition, 2005). Prostitution

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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In general, the criminal law prohibits the doing of harm, but it does not impose a liability for failure to do good. Assess the truth of statement by reference to the situations persons may incur.

In general, the criminal law prohibits the doing of harm, but it does not impose a liability for failure to do good. Assess the truth of statement by reference to the situations persons may incur. For a person to commit a crime, he must have committed some kind of act. There are three ways in which a person can be tested on whether he has committed the crime. The first is that there must be a crime in the first place i.e. murder. The second is that he must have meant to cause it e.g. the result would not have happened if he had not caused it. The third is that he must have a duty of care. In English criminal law, a person is prohibited from causing any kind of harm to another individual. The criminal system does not impose any liability for not doing anything i.e. if a person is drowning in a pool you are not ordered by law to save that person. The only reason you would have to do this is if u were contracted to have that duty. Although in some statues like the Road traffic act (1988) make it an offence to fail to do something. Contractual duty, in R v Pitwood (1902), a signalman was convicted of manslaughter. He was employed by the railway company to look after a level crossing and to make sure that the gate was securely shut when there was a train due. He had left his post and this resulted in a person wondering onto the lines and being killed by an oncoming train. A

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  • Level: AS and A Level
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Human Rights

"Despite International agreements, abuses of human rights still occur" Identify ONE Human Rights issue and assess the effectiveness of both international and domestic legal measures is addressing this human rights issue. Under the United Nation Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child 2002, the human rights issue of child prostitution is defined as the use of a child in sexual activities for remuneration or any other form of consideration. Child prostitution has been addressed internationally via the use of treaties and protocols, however despite this, these legal remedies are poorly enforced, and it remains an intense, recurring issue on an international scale. On the contrary, on a domestic level in Australia, legal measures that address child prostitution are effective in a limited sense, due to the fear of legal sanctions and ethical considerations of the issue, which ultimately decreases the rate of crime in this area. Despite this compliance, the issue still occurs regardless of the various legal enactments. Sexual exploitation of children for commercial purposes, such as child prostitution and child sex tourism, is an escalating violation of human rights. However, international legal sanctions against this crime are extremely ineffective because they are disgracefully enforced. In the international community, child prostitution is a growing

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Evaluating the Success and Failure of the Four Constitutions Canada Had Prior to Confederation

FIFTH TIME'S A CHARM? Evaluating the Success and Failure of the Four Constitutions Canada Had Prior to Confederation Prior to the British North America Act of 1867, the British government made four failed attempts to govern their colonies in North America. Finally, in 1846, they got the point and gave in -- they ordered the Governors of all of their colonies to accept responsible party government. The British government no longer wanted the hassle, the cost, nor the responsibility of their colonies, because, simply put, they no longer had any use for the colonies. Britain was moving in the direction toward free trade, so the colonies would not have a favoured spot in the economy, as they did in the old mercantilist system.1 Twenty one years after the colonial secretary ordered the acceptance of responsible party government, Canada became a nation of its own -- finally, the Canadians did something the British had hoped they would do. The British North America Act was to be our constitution for over one hundred years: it lasted longer than all four of the other constitutional attempts put together. Each one of these acts, in one way or another, was intended to assimilate the French Canadiens and harmonize the colony, and each one, in turn, failed. The Royal Proclamation Act of 1763, passed shortly after the end of the Seven Years War, lasted eleven years until 1774,

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Can the Islamic approach to Human Rights be compatible withthe current International Human Rights Doctrine?

Can the Islamic approach to Human Rights be compatible with the current International Human Rights Doctrine? . Introduction This essay outlines one of the biggest and burning issues insofar toward the universal human rights: can the Islamic approach to human rights be compatible with the current international human rights doctrine? As an entitled notion with the religion of Islam, which has the second biggest in number of the followers worldwide, its approach to human rights is definitely crucial. Islamic human rights copes such a large area of thought, but this essay much more likely to focus the discussion on the idea of the Islamic women's rights. The main argument is that pure Islamic approach to human rights, especially to women's rights, can not be compatible with the current international human rights doctrine. However, its approach to human rights, include women rights, might much more sustainable internally of the Moslem society. Fairly, my position is not pretending to provide any problem resolving or to justify anything, but to tease out some of the possibly conflicting notions that are tie up with human discussing on this issue. In order to do that, we will begin by making such an overview on the context of international human rights doctrine, and then go through along the existence of human rights in Islamic perspective, and finally come up with the examining

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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Have the period since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was approved favored the children and has it been an actual improvement on their situation throughout the world?

Maite Valdes 28/02/02 EXTENDED ESSAY CHILDREN'S RIGHTS RESEARCH QUESTION Have the period since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was approved favored the children and has it been an actual improvement on their situation throughout the world? Is the nowadays condition of the children what was approved in 1989? 191 countries all over the globe out of the existing 193 nations approved the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on November the 20th, 1989. This makes it the nearly universally ratified human rights treaty in history1. The United States, which did sign this agreement, but never ratified it; and Somalia, which cannot ratify as it has not got an internationally recognized government, are the only two countries in the world that did not sign the agreement. This international treaty meant that the rights of the children throughout the world were going to be ensured not matter what culture, religion, sex, or social class they belong to and that more emphasis was going to be put on improving the living standard of the children. Although the welfare of all the children was the aim of these countries, not all of them have applied these Rights of the Child strictly. Nowadays, there are still children who do not benefit from these rights, and see them as privileges of the richest countries, or, in some cases, some of them do not

  • Word count: 1825
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Law
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