Human rights law

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is the Council of Europe's version of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was published in 1950 and came into force in 1953.

The Human Rights Act 1988 is the UK's interpretation of the Convention. It came into force in 2000 and provides that all UK public bodies providing public services must comply with Convention rights. This includes the Home Office. It also allows people in the UK to bring human rights cases before courts in the UK rather than having to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Article 8 is the right most often raised in student immigration cases.

ARTICLE 8

Right to respect for private and family life

  1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
  2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic wellbeing of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others

Loading...