R v Lord Chancellor, ex parte Witham, 1998 [1998] QB 575
Citation: R v Lord Chancellor, ex parte Witham, 1998 [1998] QB 575
Rule of thumb: Can Parliament pass an Act which violates a human right in the ECHR 1953 or 1707 British Bill of Rights? No, as a general rule, and you can argue that an Act of Parliament is invalid for violating a human right. They can if they expressly state that they are violating it for the greater good of society, but this is never done.
Judgment:
‘In the unwritten legal order of the British state, at a time when the common law continues to accord a legislative supremacy to Parliament, the notion of a constitutional right can in my judgment inhere only in this proposition, that the right in question cannot be abrogated by the state save by specific provision in an Act of Parliament, or by regulations whose vires in main legislation specifically confers the power to abrogate. General words will not suffice. And any such rights will be creatures of the common law, since their existence would not be the consequence of the democratic political process but would be logically prior to it.’ Laws J
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.