How does the Human Rights Act work across the UK?

The Human Rights Act applies across the UK. The rights within the Human Rights Act, brought into UK law from ECHR are interwoven into the devolution arrangements in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Scotland Act 1998, the Wales Act 1998 and the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (which is part of an international peace process) established devolved legislatures and administrations. Each devolved nation has a range of issues for which it is responsible, many of which impact on human rights.

All the devolution arrangements prevent the parliaments/assemblies in devolved nations from passing laws which may be incompatible with Convention rights, as set out in the Human Rights Act. If a court in the devolved nations finds a law to be incompatible with human rights, it can be disapplied, because such a law would be outside the powers delegated to those bodies (“ultra vires”). This is not the same for UK Parliament which is sovereign. The mechanisms in the Human Rights Act and its position in devolution arrangements are part of what makes it such an innovative, distinct piece of legislation. In devolved nations, like Scotland, the HRA is a crucial building block for increased rights protections.