What would the abolition of the Human Rights Act mean for employment lawyers? Ben Collins & Nicola Newbegin share their thoughts
The government has backed off from early legislation to abolish the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) by omitting proposals for reform from the Queen’s Speech, instead merely stating that the government would “bring forward proposals for a British Bill of Rights”. However, there is no suggestion that the government has abandoned its plan entirely. What might the consequences of abandoning HRA 1998 be for the employment law community?
There is one school of thought which suggests that human rights add little to the protections offered by domestic and EU legislation on, eg, dismissal, discrimination and whistle blowing. Mummery LJ observed in Leach v Ofcom [2012] EWCA Civ 959, [2012] IRLR 839 that: “‘Human rights’ points rarely add anything much to the numerous detailed and valuable employment rights conferred on workers,” and Elias LJ cautioned in Turner v East Midlands Trains [2012] EWCA Civ 1470, [2013] 3 All ER
