Constitutional right to equality under further consideration in Bill of Rights review

Last year the commission on the bill of rights consulted the public on whether the UK needed a new human rights instrument, arguably one that better reflects the UK’s distinct legal and cultural heritage within Europe. At the time it was thought by many that the consultation document lacked the required detail for the public to comment meaningfully. The consultation process closed in November 2011 and the responses were published.

It has been surprising to note that the commission is once again consulting on the same matter. However this time the consultation document is more substantial and provides useful details on the kind of ideas being considered. There is widespread opinion that the consultation should have included this detail when it first opened up. The substance of the questions includes in particular, areas such as:

• A right to equality;
• Rights in criminal and civil justice;
• A right to administrative justice;
• A right to trial by jury;
• Rights for victims;
• Socio-economic rights; and
• Children`s rights and environmental rights

The deadline for the responses is 30 September 2012. Also it therefore seems likely that the commission will be unable to meet the deadline to complete their report by the end of the year. It has been suggested that the new consultations appears to simply be a box ticking exercise. Furthermore it appears that the public should have been invited to contribute at a much earlier stage. Buddy will update this blog when the responses from the second consultation are published.