Weekly Human Rights News: 28-07-23

On Tuesday 25^th July, Human Rights Officer Jacob and Senior Human Rights Officer Katrin hosted an online workshop for South West Advocacy Network on putting human rights into action. They talked about key rights like the Article 5 right to liberty and how human rights intersect with mental health and capacity law.

In December 2021, the UK Government released its Human Rights Act Reform consultation (which was followed by the now-abandoned Rights Removal Bill). Our new impact page looks back at the work we did to respond to the consultation and to support others to respond. Hear the recording of our CEO speaking at a Ministry of Justice roundtable; see the plain-language explainers we created; and find out about the 561 people who used our letter template to respond.

The Department of Health and Social Care is consulting on visiting rights

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is asking people what they think of updating CQC regulations to make it clear that people have a right to visitors when in hospitals, care homes and hospices. Anyone can respond by filling out the survey on the gov.uk website or using the Easy Read version. The deadline for responses is Wednesday 16^th August. You can also read about Care Rights UK’s work on the consultation and their letter to Ministers on their website.

The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act passed into law

On 20^th July 2023, the Strikes Bill received royal assent (meaning it was approved by the King) and became an Act of Parliament. The Joint Committee on Human Rights raised concerns about the Bill when it was being considered in Parliament. The Committee said, ““the lack of any limits on the level of service that the Secretary of State may impose by regulations risks a failure to comply" with the Article 11 right to association and assembly because it could allow for random interferences with the right to strike rather than legitimate and proportionate ones.