Australian Capital Territory Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Research Project Report
This Report presents the findings and recommendations of a research project established to examine whether the ACT Human Rights Act 2004 (HRA) should be amended to include explicit guarantees of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) and, if so, what impact this was likely to have on governance in the ACT. The project was funded under the Australian Research Council Linkage Project Scheme; the academic project partners were the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) in the College of Asia and the Pacific of The Australian National University and the Australian Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, The University of New South Wales, while the Partner Organisation was the ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety.
Judicial Review, Socio-Economic Rights and the Human Rights Act
INTRODUCTION 1 THE ROLE OF COURTS IN THE PROTECTION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS: INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC PERSPECTIVES I. The Indivisibility of Human Rights II. The Protection of Socio-economic Rights in Domestic Courts III. Conclusion 2 THE REGIONAL PROTECTION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS: EUROPE I. Introduction II. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 1950 III. The Protection of Socio-economic Rights in the ECHR IV. The Protection of Socio-economic Rights in EC/EU Law V. Conclusion 3 COURTS, THE UK CONSTITUTION AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998 I. Introduction II. Reading and Giving Effect to ECHR Rights in UK Courts III. Conclusion 4 JUDICIAL REVIEW: DEFERENCE, RESOURCES AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT I. Introduction II. The Constitutional Foundations of Judicial Review III. Public Law, Deference and the Human Rights Act IV. Conclusion 5 FROM NEED TO 'CHOICE' IN PUBLIC SERVICES: THE BOUNDARIES OF JUDICIAL INTERVENTION IN PRIORITISATION DISPUTES I. Introduction II. NHS Rationing: The Role of Courts in Disputes over Access to Medical Services III. Local Authority Resource Allocation Disputes IV. Interpreting Local Authority Statutory Duties Post-HRA V. Conclusion 6 ARTICLES 3 AND 8 ECHR: FAILURE TO PROVIDE AND POSITIVE OBLIGATIONS IN THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SPHERE I. Introduction II. Anufrijeva, Article 8 ECHR and Maladministration in the Provision of Welfare III. Article 3 ECHR: Respect for Dignity IV. Conclusion 7 ARTICLE 14 ECHR AND THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC GOODS AND SERVICES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM I. Introduction II. Socio-economic Entitlements and the Limits of Substantive Fairness in Article 14 ECHR III. Carson's Case: Refusal of Up-rated Payments to Pensioners Abroad 283 IV. Reynolds' Case: The Intensity of Scrutiny in Other 'Status Disputes' V. Equality and Human Rights VI. Conclusion 8 ARTICLE 6 ECHR: JUDICIAL REVIEW, DUE PROCESS AND THE PROTECTION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS I. Introduction II. What is a Civil Right for the Purposes of Article 6 ECHR? III. The Quality of Administrative Justice: The Scope of Article IV. Conclusion
Arab Uprisings and the Outstanding Return to Democracy: Tunisia as a Model
In the wake of the Middle Eastern crises, the Tunisian case in focus has been doted as a unique phenomenon being that it was the Genesis of the revolution that ultimately spread across the Middle East like wild fire, but has eventually heralded a new dawn as democracy has incidentally returned to the Empire. This literature therefore looks closely at the extent to which the ‘DignityRevolution’ has been instrumental in the Middle East uprisings, which have brought an end to dynastic autocracies. The literature zeros in on the Tunisian uprising which has attracted global concerns, sympathy and has sparked interests in the international arena. The literature finds that the people hold colossal prospect in the uprising and its resultant effect, as it paved the way for the revolutionist to generate, gather and disseminate information on the condition of the entire region to the international community. The people in this context were of utmost importance and played a very crucial role in the creation of awareness, mobilization of protesters and utmost determining the direction of the uprising and also ensuring a speedy return to democratic rule. The paper submits that the role of the people in ensuring that the ruins of the uprising is not left littering around and democracy restored is highly commendable and should be a model for all other Arab countries involved in the revolution.