HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE TAKES UP REPORT OF UNITED KINGDOM

Human Rights Committee
73rd session
17 October 2001
Morning




Government Representatives Queried on Racial Discrimination;
Terms of New Human Rights Act


The Human Rights Committee began consideration this morning of a fifth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including its overseas territories, hearing responses by the head of a large Government delegation to questions put in advance and covering such topics as investigation of complaints against the police; prevention of racial discrimination in the criminal-justice system; the impact of anti-terrorism legislation on Government compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and alleged participation of members of the police and army in terrorist activities in Northern Ireland.

Joan MacNaughton, Director-General for Policy of the Lord Chancellor's Department of the United Kingdom, told the Committee among other things that the Government had established for Northern Ireland an independent office of the Police Ombudsman in November 2000 -- the first scheme in Western Europe to offer fully independent investigation of complaints against the police.

She also said that numerous steps had been taken to prevent racial discrimination in the operations of the police and criminal-justice systems; that the Government did not think its Terrorism Act 2000 violated the provisions of the Covenant; and that the so-called Stevens Investigations into charges of participation by members of the police and army in paramilitary terrorist activities, including murders, in Northern Ireland had so far resulted in 44 convictions.

Introducing the report, Ms. MacNaughton said numerous reforms had been enacted since 1997, including significant devolution of political power to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK domestic law; and a raft of legislative and other measures to promote fairness and equality at all levels, such as a Disability Discrimination Act, a Race Relations (Amendment) Act, and a law equalizing the age of sexual consent. The report itself highlighted adoption in 1998 of a Human Rights Act which among other things incorporated into United Kingdom law the substantive rights and freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.


Committee members, offering remarks and posing questions towards the end of the morning meeting, contended, among other things, that the new Human Rights Act did not encompass all the standards of the International Covenant; suggested that a national human-rights commission be created; and sought further information on what they said were racial tensions and numerous racial incidents in the country, noting that the report indicated that racial incidents had increased by more than 100 per cent.

The Government delegation included Henry Steel, Overseas Territories Consultant of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Felicity Clarkson, Director of Asylum and Appeals Policy of the Home Office; Paul Pugh, Head of the Police Powers and Leadership Unit of the Home Office; Clare Salters, Head of the Human Rights and Equality Unit of the Northern Ireland Office; Nicholas Sanderson, Head of the Prisoner Administration Group for the Prison Service of England and Wales; Jonathan Stephens of the Political Directorate of the Northern Ireland Office; Philip Stevens, Head of the International Branch of the Lord Chancellor's Department; Christine Stewart, Head of the Sentencing and Offences Unit of the Home Office; Stuart Templar, of the Human Rights Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Cathy Clements, of the Northern Ireland Human Rights and Equality Unit; Julie Clouder, Head of the European, International and General Policy Section of the Race Relations Unit of the Home Office; Mark de Pulford, Head of the Human Rights Division, Lord Chancellor's Department; Stavroulla Gabriel, staff member of the Human Rights Division; Simon Hickson, Head of the Juvenile Offender's Unit of the Home Office; Mary Madden, Head of the Security Policy and Operations Division of the Northern Ireland Office; and Brian Peddie, Head of Legal Policy for the Scottish Prison Service.

The United Kingdom, as one of the 148 States parties to the Covenant, is required to provide periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to implement the Covenant's provisions. On these occasions Government delegations generally appear before the Committee to answer questions.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. this afternoon to continue its discussion with the delegation of the United Kingdom.


Fifth Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The report (CCPR/C/UK/99/5) reviews implementation of the Covenant on an article-by-article basis. The introduction notes that a Human Rights Act of 1998 incorporates into United Kingdom law the substantive rights and freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Act places all public authorities under the statutory obligation act compatibly with Convention rights and allows cases to be brought in UK courts or tribunals against public authorities which fail to do so; it requires that all legislation must be read and given effect compatibly with Convention rights; and it requires UK courts and tribunals always to take account of relevant European human rights case law. A comprehensive review of policy on various international human rights instruments led to the conclusion that it would be wrong to divert the considerable resources needed for the commencement of the Human Rights Act in order to prepare for the right of individual petition to the Committee through ratification of the Optional Protocol of the International Covenant, although the Government will reconsider the question when the Human Rights Act has been fully implemented.

The report also notes, among other things, that a substantial devolution of powers to Scotland and Wales has occurred; that domestic violence is the largest single type of violence against women in the United Kingdom, and that in England and Wales a new domestic violence publicity and awareness campaign has been launched; that there is still a security problem related to Irish terrorism and hence the Government believes it essential that police have adequate powers to detain and question those they have reason to believe may be involved in terrorism, and hence that derogation of some rights must remain in place related to anti-terrorism measures; that anti-terrorism legislation is being reviewed and it is hoped that following endorsement of the Belfast agreement the threat of Irish terrorism will diminish to the point where no additional special powers are necessary; that corporal punishment of school pupils and of children in nursery education became unlawful in England and Wales on 1 September 1999; and that new custody time limits seemed to have eliminated the worst delays in the criminal justice system but that recently cases are taking longer to complete although fewer are coming to court.

An addendum to the report covers implementation of the Covenant in overseas territories of the United Kingdom, and a supplementary report -- provided too late for translation -- updates developments in the UK since submission of the fifth periodic report on 11 April 2000.


Introduction of report

JOAN MACNAUGHTON, Director-General for Policy of the Lord Chancellor's Department of the United Kingdom, said among other things that the incoming Government in 1997 had begun a range of reforms of relevance to the Covenant. These included a significant devolution of political power to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with new Parliamentary assemblies and vigorous new democratic arrangements in support; incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK domestic law; reform of the upper Chamber of Parliament, the House of Lords, and local Government; a raft of new legislative and other measures to promote fairness and equality at all levels, such as the Disability Discrimination Act, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act; and equalization of the age of sexual consent. The peace process in Northern Ireland was far from complete but had already borne fruit in many areas, Ms. MacNaughton said, allowing the Government to ease measures required by the former state of emergency.

The recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and the Security Council's call in Resolution 1373 for comprehensive steps to combat international terrorism, had led the United Kingdom to consider how best to respond, Ms. MacNaughton said. Various proposals for new legislation would be brought forward in the near future, but the UK would continue to seek to comply as fully as possible in doing so with the standards of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.


Discussion

The delegation from the United Kingdom responded to a series of questions put in writing by the Committee in advance and falling under such general topics as the country's Constitutional and legal framework; non-discrimination; gender equality; self-determination; liberty and security of persons; and treatment of detainees.

Ms. MacNaughton said that there were no current plans to lift the United Kingdom's reservations to the Covenant, but the UK would reconsider its position as part of an upcoming general review following implementation of the country's new Human Rights Act; that a derogation made pursuant to article 4 of the Convention and the apparatus of laws infringing civil liberties designed for periods of emergency in relation to the situation in Northern Ireland would be lifted, following recommendation by the Committee; that unacceptable conditions at the Castlereagh detention centre had been eliminated by the closing of the centre; that policies for strip-searching of male and female prisoners were now being reviewed to determine what, if any, changes could be made to the procedures; and that reducing self-inflicted deaths and self-harm by prisoners was a top priority for the Prison Service following a Committee recommendation on the UK's fourth report to the panel. Self-inflicted deaths in England and Wales had declined by 27 per cent from last year and by 58 per cent from 1995.

The Government had established for Northern Ireland an independent office of the Police Ombudsman in November 2000, Ms. MacNaughton said -- the first scheme in Western Europe to offer fully independent investigation of complaints against the police. The agency was entirely independent of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and investigated allegations of criminal behaviour or breaches of the police code of conduct. In addition, the Government had announced that it would, jointly with the Irish Government, appoint a judge of international standing to investigate allegations of collusion by the security forces in a number of specific murders carried out by both republican and loyalist paramilitaries.

The Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act of 1999 amended previous provisions so that inferences could not be drawn from silence when a suspect was questioned at a police station while denied access to legal advice, Ms. MacNaughton said; the Act would be implemented when relevant amendments were made related to codes of practice; meanwhile guidance had been issued to police and prosecutors stating that suspects should have access to legal advice before being interviewed at police stations and that inferences should not be drawn from silence.

Incarceration of persons to be deported and conditions and length of detention of such persons were regularly reviewed, Ms. MacNaughton said, especially to ensure that detention was justified; three organizations were provided with grants to provide legal help to such detainees.

Ms. MacNaughton said that numerous steps had been taken to prevent racial or other discrimination in the criminal justice system; that a report had found that further steps were needed to ensure that racism and discrimination were eliminated in the operation of the police forces of England and Wales, and among other things a revised code practice had been introduced; that new offences had been introduced related to the commission by anyone of racially aggravated violence, harassment and criminal damage, with higher maximum penalties; that the Government had announced that homosexuality would no longer be a bar to serving in the Armed Forces; that campaigns had been carried out against domestic violence but the results were not easy to quantify, and that overall the latest crime statistics showed a 4 per cent increase in recorded violent crime; and that a multi-agency response was intended to improve remedies for victims of domestic violence.

The Terrorism Act of 2000 did not, in the Government's judgement, entail reservations to the terms of the Covenant, Ms. MacNaughton said. She also said the Government took seriously allegations of participation of branches of the police and army in terrorist activities in Northern Ireland, and alleged participation by such persons in the deaths of loyalist and unionist paramilitary members. The so-called Stevens Investigations into the matter had so far resulted in 44 convictions and were ongoing in respect of the murder of Patrick Finucane.

Responding to questions put by Committee members towards the end of the morning meeting, the delegation of the United Kingdom said, among other things, that the Human Rights Act did indeed give effect to the European Convention on Human Rights, and there were differences between that Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; that the UK had not, however, closed its mind to the International Covenant or other human-rights instruments, that it simply wanted time for the Human Rights Act to "bed down" and for the Government to see how well it worked. Possible incorporation of the International Covenant into domestic law, and possible ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant, allowing individual communications to the Committee, could be considered later, but at this point the Government could not say when.

The Government had the declared intention of ending special powers unique to Northern Ireland relating to terrorism, the delegation said; it was hoped that soon the emergency powers that had been in force there would be reduced as the threat of terrorism diminished. The Terrorism Act 2000 had introduced a number of provisions, meanwhile, that applied throughout the UK and were intended to prevent terrorism; the Act had continued several special measures related to Northern Ireland but had reduced and/or amended others. The Government was certain that these measures were consistent with the Convention. However, recent violent acts by dissident groups in Northern Ireland had convinced the Government that for the moment a serious terrorist threat remained.

There was discrepancy between reported racist incidents and racist incidents as experienced by victims, the delegation said; the number of incidents as experienced by victims had declined over the last five years. Surveys of racial groups had furthermore determined that 75 per cent of those questioned thought the police did a good job in avoiding discrimination. It was foreseen that a new, independent police-complaints system would be in place by April 2003 to cover the entire territory of the country; the system would not investigate all complaints against police but would investigate serious ones, such as deaths or injuries while in custody. Stop-and-search tactics, which had been shown to be applied five times as often to non-whites as to whites, were a matter of concern, and the matter had been investigated; but study of the public situations involved revealed a more complex situation -- that, given the actual populations on the streets when and where such tactics were employed, there was no clear pattern of racial bias in those stopped and searched.




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