Judicial Reasoning under the UK Human Rights Act

A collection of essays examining the judicial decision-making process under the Human Rights Act 1998.

Helen Fenwick (Edited by), Gavin Phillipson (Edited by), Roger Masterman (Edited by)

9780521176590, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 March 2011

484 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.71 kg

Review of the hardback: 'The value of the book for the practitioner lies in the opportunity to deepen one's thinking about, and understanding of, Convention law. It deserves and demands to be read slowly, savoured and considered carefully and critically. … [It] will be of great value to anyone who thinks that the title 'human rights lawyer' is more than a synonym for 'one who is paranoid about the State'. … recommended without reservation or hesitation.' The Journal Online

Judicial Reasoning under the UK Human Rights Act is a collection of essays written by leading experts in the field, which examines judicial decision-making under the UK's de facto Bill of Rights. The book focuses both on changes in areas of substantive law and the techniques of judicial reasoning adopted to implement the Act. The contributors therefore consider first general Convention and Human Rights Act concepts – statutory interpretation, horizontal effect, judicial review, deference, the reception of Strasbourg case-law – since they arise across all areas of substantive law. They then proceed to examine not only the use of such concepts in particular fields of law (privacy, family law, clashing rights, discrimination and criminal procedure), but also the modes of reasoning by which judges seek to bridge the divide between familiar common law and statutory doctrines and those in the Convention.

1. Judicial Reasoning and the Human Rights Act 1998 Helen Fenwick, Roger Masterman and Gavin Phillipson
Part I. The Interpretation of the Human Rights Act 1998: 2. The System of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act: The View from the Outside Colin Warbrick
3. Aspiration or Foundation? The Status of Strasbourg Jurisprudence and the 'Convention Rights' in Domestic Law Roger Masterman
4. Institutional Roles and Meanings of 'Compatibility' under the Human Rights Act 1998 David Feldman
5. Choosing between Sections 3 and 4 Human Rights Act 1998: Judicial Reasoning after Ghaidan v Mendoza Aileen Kavanagh
6. Clarity postponed? Horizontal Effect after Campbell and Re. S. Gavin Phillipson
7. The Standard of Judicial Review and Legal Reasoning after the Human Rights Act Ian Leigh
8. Principles of Deference under the Human Rights Act Sir David Keene
Part II. The Human Rights Act and Substantive Law: 9. The Common Law, Privacy and the Convention Gavin Phillipson
10. Judicial Reasoning in Clashing Rights Cases Helen Fenwick
11. Family Law and the Human Rights Act 1998: Judicial Restraint or Revolution? Sonia Harris-Short
12. Article 14: A Protector, Not a Prosecutor Aaron Baker
13. Criminal Procedure, The Presumption of Innocence and Judicial Reasoning under the Human Rights Act Paul Roberts
14. Concluding remarks Ian Leigh.

Subject Areas: Human rights & civil liberties law [LNDC], Constitutional & administrative law [LND]