Analysis of the Human Rights Act, 1998

Analysis of the Human Rights Act, 1998 Human Rights Law ‘Despite the Human Rights Act 1998, the courts have failed appropriately to limit the scope for the exercise of breach of the peace powers.’ The Human Rights Act 1998 received royal assent on November 9, 1998 and came into force on October 2, 2000. The objective of said Act was to harmonize the domestic law of the United Kingdom with the European Convention on Human Rights. To reaffirm the commitment of the UK to human rights and civil liberties, it is now possible under the said Act to file a claim for violation of the ECHR without going to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Says Weinstein: This ability to transcend national law, and to compel revision of such law to comport with rights guaranteed by the European Convention in a broad range of areas, most often within the exclusive purview of national and local courts, is of historic note. Generally, nation states have been the final arbiters of most issues affecting their citizenry and within their borders. By treaty, the signatory nations of Europe have granted the ECHR binding authority to decide cases affecting their citizenry and other persons subject to their authority. In instances where state law is found inconsistent with an ECHR judgment, the nation at issue is obliged to amend its national law to comport with the ECHR decision. These cases illustrate the concept of what is increasingly being referred to as an evolving European supranational identity. The ECHR grants jurisdiction to any individual, non-governmental organization, or group claiming be a victim of a violation of the European Convention by a ECHR signatory nation, and to bring cases before it, as does, in applicable cases, the European Court of Justice (the â€Å"ECJ†), the court of the European Union, based in Luxembourg. Equally important, it prohibits any public body from behaving in a manner that is incompatible with any of the rights guaranteed under the ECHR. The Human Rights Act has gone a long way in limiting arbitrary actions from public bodies, in particular, police officers. It cannot be denied, however, that the laws on â€Å"breach of the peace† grant have historically been so vast in scope that in some occasions, human rights violations arise. The definition of â€Å"breach of the peace† (also known as breach of the Queen’s peace) has been discussed in the Court of Appeal decision of Howell, where it was stated as follows: We are emboldened to say that there is a breach of the peace whenever harm is actually done or is likely to be done to a person or in his presence his property or a person is in fear of being so harmed through an assault, an affray, a riot, unlawful assembly or other disturbance. It used to be that the prospect of violence alone would not be enough to be considered a â€Å"breach of the peace†, as in the comment of Farqhuarson LJ that â€Å"The act which puts someone in fear of violence taking place entitles a police officer†¦to detain the actor but it is not a breach of the peace, for the violence has not yet occurred.† There has been scant support for this view, such that in the present time, â€Å"breach of the peace† also embraces â€Å"behaviour likely to cause a violent reaction†, even if such behaviour is not of itself violent.

Religious Liberty Talk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Religious Liberty Talk - Essay Example Thus, for widely distributed network of people, freedom of religion becomes hugely important issue. The article explores the speech of President Obama at the recent National Prayer Breakfast which was attended by eminent people across different segment of society. Kathleen has criticized Obama who had ‘lamented eroding protection of religious liberty’ across the globe’. She says that it is unethical of Obama to talk about religious liberty when modules of healthcare reforms of Obamacare are distinct in their violation of religious liberty, especially the contraceptive mandate. She contends that while overtly we may be supporting the issue, covert actions and diminishing redlines between state and religion has become major concern. The author’s has rightly brought the issue to the limelight as Obama administration has adopted confrontational attitude with regard to religious liberty. The case of Hobby Lobby and Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are significant in their differing opinions. In the later case, jury had unanimously voted against the government interference in the recruitment of minister in church. Indeed, religious freedom is inherently linked to democratic postulates of American constitution that promote freedom of actions and thoughts. By infringing the religious freedom of individuals within a multicultural society, the government is also violating constitutional rights of the

Dynamism in Precolonial African Society Research Paper - 1

Dynamism in Precolonial African Society - Research Paper Example This essay declares that the societies of Africa, thrust into democratic setups, have been unable to function as smoothly as they did under indigenous forms of governance. This is not to suggest that democracy is not a workable form of governance in Africa. However, the transition was not effected in a very scientific manner and there was a great resistance from the ancient forms of social structuring. The power and dynamism of these social orders can be seen in the resistance to sudden and imposed change that they offer. The tribal forms of governance in African societies were in many ways, examples of a smooth and efficient from of democracy. While they were not completely democratic by any stretch of imagination, they did offer certain strengths to women and marginalized sections of the society in ways that Western society never has. They also offered means of redressal for people who had been wronged in ways that were quick and efficient. In many colonized societies a quick and s mooth system of justice was often replaced by Western systems of law that failed to work as effectively in these societies. They were unable to dispense justice in quick and efficient ways. This paper makes a conclusion that Africa has been referred to as the ‘dark continent’. This epithet has obviously racist connotations. It also designates the continent as one which was always ignorant of civilized ways of being. The dynamic and robust structuring of precolonial African societies belies these views.

Workplace Surveillance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Workplace Surveillance - Essay Example To uphold to ethics therefore, many are the organizations who have adapted to the use of workplace surveillance. Though many justify the practice, the writer holds the view that workplace surveillance is not an appropriate way of achieving ethical uprightness and that it infringes on basic human rights of workers. Background Workplace surveillance has been practiced in most parts of America for quite some time now. The practice has indeed been replicated in many parts of the world. In Australia for instance, it is on record that workplace surveillance is backed by the Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 under the New South Wales Consolidated Acts (Australasian Legal Information Institute, 2012). In practice, workplace surveillance permits employers and managers to monitor the activities and operations of their employees, purposely by the use of technological tools. It is not surprising therefore that computer surveillance, under which there is internet surveillance and desktop surveillan ce happens to be the commonest forms of surveillance commonly in practice in most organizations. The Opposition The writer holds the view that the purported reason for undertaking workplace surveillance to regulate the working activities of workers in order to bring about adherence to workplace ethics is a misuse of the system. The opposition view would therefore say that it is appropriate to have workplace surveillance to ensure organizational ethics. The following sections presents a two sided debate whereby the strength and weaknesses of the opposition claims are outlined as against the warrants of the substantive claim. The strengths and weaknesses of opponents’ claim The major strengths in the opposition claims include the fact that no all people can be trusted to on their own put up good behavior and guide against such behavior as pilfering, rudeness towards customers and irresponsible use of working hours. For this reason, workplace surveillance would just be appropria te to put everyone under check. There could also be a merit of workplace surveillance whereby it puts everyone equal before the law and fights against partiality in the sense that once the system is used, each and every individual comes under the surveillance. This is especially so when sophisticated cameras and other technological tools are used (Logan, 2009). These merits not withstanding, the use of cameras and other equipment to watch the everyday steps of workers at the workplace clearly infringes on their privacy (Robinson, 2012). Yet again, the theory of behaviorism provides that the conscience of people to select good morals is better shaped if the people are nurtured to select such attitudes by themselves (Privacy Right Clearinghouse, 2012). This is indeed a major contradiction to the principle of workplace surveillance. The effect of the forceful nature of getting people to be ethical would therefore be that in a situation whereby the systems break down or for whatever lit tle opportunity people get, they would abuse the system and make multiple mistakes of all that they intended to do but did not have the chance to do because of surveillance. Present claim The point is therefore being reiterated again that workplace surveillance is an extreme way of checking for ethical practice at the workplace and thus it is inappropriate. If indeed the figurative saying that there are several ways of killing a cat is true, then it is important that work input and output be monitored but this should take a different dimension other than the use of surveillance technology. Warrants for claim and the opposition The warrant

Galactic Concert Cultural Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Galactic Concert Cultural Event - Essay Example Therefore, this paper intends to provide a comprehensive report on a cultural event that I attended recently; in terms of my experience, details of the event and my general reaction upon attending the occasion. Galactic Concert Last February, 23rd 2012 was a great day for me and most of the people in Washington DC. This is because of the great, live cultural concert that had been organized to entertain people on that day. Since I am passionate about such performances, I decided to attend the event so as to a firsthand experience of the performance. All along, I had heard and read about the concert from friends and the media, but it never made a lot of sense to me. Nevertheless, when I was walking on the streets last month, I had a glimpse of poster and got interested in it. That is when I developed a keen interest and curiosity, but the event, and decided to be part of the audience. Luckily, the poster had adequate information on the event including the date, time, venue, charges and the performers. The event was scheduled to take place on the February 23rd 2012, in 9:30 Club in Washington DC. The Club was the host of an amazing night performance of the New Orleans funk and soul. When I arrived at the club, I was astonished to find a hall full of individuals and fans that had come to witness the great talents and wonderful voices of the Orleans band. Some of the attendees included high school, university and college students, single men and women, and many old people. The attendees were widespread from foreigners, black and white Americans. I was shocked to see people from African, Asian, European, and Chinese descents. Besides, there were numerous dignitaries and other artists in the club, all eager to watch the performance. In fact, one of the guest singers that attended the concert is Corey Glover, a member of the Living Color band. Before I attended the concert, I was very curious about the concert; the kind of dances and music that would be performed to th e audience. At some point, I decided not brush away the idea of attending it since I thought it was one of those boring live performances in Washington DC. I had a totally different opinion about the performance; that is it was only enjoyed by the old people, particularly Americans. I also did not expect to see the club filled with people from different races, ages and professions. What is more, I had no slightest idea that people like culture and always celebrate it. When the performance started, the hall got into a frenzied dance and song that shocked more than it excited me. This is because I never expected such a marvelous performance from the New Orleans band. It is difficult to overstate the thrill and infectious energy and vigor of the Orleans’ live performance in the club that day. The New Orleans’ band led the audience on a brass-fueled and unforeseen march through funk, soul and hip-hop. The group is simply combined with rock and New Orleans jazz music and da nce. The fans got entertained as they sang and danced along with the artists, while some surged forward to get singers’ handshake and autographs after the show. Generally, the show was a significant eye-opener to me as regards my view on the whole issue of culture. Before this particular performance, I had taken culture as a backward thing, especially concerning soul, and jazz music. I also thought that kind

Concept Analysis Paper Anxiety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Concept Analysis Paper Anxiety - Essay Example In other words, the paper would provide basis for research and management of anxiety related disorders and at the same time acting as an educational tool in the nursing field (Bouras & Holt, 2007). The purpose of this analysis was to demystify anxiety as a clinical condition. It will give a several insight into various features of the concept and examine the different consequences of this condition on patients. Anxiety and other related conditions are some of the most common mental reasons for seeking medical help today. A recent study statistics indicated that 25% of the global population have exhibited signs of anxiety. This therefore is a serious worrying trend for nursing practitioners and medical profession in general as it signifies serious medical health problem. Consequently, the need for concept analysis in anxiety would act as an important tool through which nurses can enhance their management skills as far as anxiety is concerned (Hayes and Strosahl, 2004) Definition of co ncept In common usage anxiety is a defense mechanism that triggers in the mind. This state when blown out of proportion can result to a serious psychological problem. It can also be defined as thoughts or worrying about the future events which can either be good or bad, meaning that a person who is worried about is future can suffer from anxiety. In nursing usage anxiety is defined as a combination of several biochemical changes in the body, the patient’s memory, social situation and personal history. It is difficult to concretely describe this condition as it as many causes and degrees of intensity. Sometimes doctors describe it as emotion or an affect depending on the person describing it, whether it’s an outside observer (affect) or the person having it (emotion) (Ohman, 2000). Defining characteristics Anxiety can present itself in many ways. some forms of anxiety expressed themselves mildly, whereas others severely. This form depends on the stage of development. Mi ld anxiety occurs when the condition is still in its infantry stages. In most cases, the severe anxiety occurs when the anxiety is not managed during its early stages of development. The characteristics exhibited by mild anxiety are distinct from those exhibited by severe anxiety. Mild anxiety, for instance expresses in form of panic attack. The person is mostly likely to show mild signs as perspiration, and chills (Twamas and Bangi, 2003) In some cases, a patient may experience symptoms such as obsessive compulsive disorder. Such conditions imply that the condition is in middle stages of progression. For those with post-traumatic stress as a form of anxiety then it’s characterized by lack of sleep (Barlow, 2002). Late stages of anxiety disorder differ depending on the type of anxiety the patient suffers from. Patients with panic disorder then late stages are characterized by behavioral and cognitive traits. In this stage the patient may dread death or go crazy. Those who hav e phobia may also express certain strange characteristics at the late stage e.g. stop doing any activity at all. (Craske and Barlow, 2003). Additionally, it worth noting that cases of anxiety can present in different forms. There are model cases, contrary cases and the borderline cases. Model case of anxiety is a case where the patient depicts most of the general features associated with anxiety. Borderline case of anxiety is a product of neurological and psychological disturbances. The term

The cultural and memory institutions Essay Example for Free

The cultural and memory institutions Essay There has been a radical change for the cultural and memory institutions across United Kingdom and these changes are moreover due to the changing facet of technology and the growing feature of user demands. The modern trends influence the purpose of the traditional as well as modern culture preservation and its management. The new technology has brought about rapid changes with its ways to preserve culture in its conventional form by scholarly studies and development of supporting strategies. In this regard, the possible ways, UK’s cultural institutions should probably approach is discussed here in this report. The objective of this study is provide recommendations and options so as to make visible the country’s cultural institutions and actors. It is hopeful that the study will help to improve the way UK’s cultural actors organize for the predictable changes that will take place in the next five years. This report aims to converge the three main trends discussed in the report – technology, culture, their interaction in order to increase the social participation and how new emerging web technology and online services can help to increase the public participation in culture. Definitely, internet technology or more profoundly, digitization has changes the scenario to a large extent and has created demands for on-demand, continuously available, personal access to products. Almost every library, archives and museums in UK have become digital by now and have changed their roles from the customary bodies to hybrid organizations that know how to take care of all the various cultural resources. The adaptation of the cultural contents to the digital form of content has presented a new dimension to the society to access their cultural heritage in ways that were unbelievable about a decade ago. According to Paul Fiander, Chief of BBC Information and records, UK, â€Å"The dividend from investment into going digital is substantial. † With the increasing levels of knowledge in the society, there will always be an increasing demand for quality and rich content and the Cultural institutions can cater to this need of learning services that are needed at all levels of the society. The modern internet technologies can play a major role in enhancing and delivering new content about culture heritage of the society. With this addition of innovative internet technologies, users will be able to enjoy easier access to their cultural lives and will be able top actively participate in events and cultural communities world wide. Users will be able to locate their areas of interest, visit virtual museums, and libraries to search for information they would have to toil hard to obtain. According to David Bearman,AMICO, â€Å"Offering highly interactive and rich environments will become a competitive factor within the cultural heritage community. In the future, we will expect that you can manipulate digital images in many ways, turn them around, look at the bottom, etc. Those resources that you cannot manipulate will be perceived as second rate. Moreover, the museums they come from will be perceived as second rate. † Displays, narrations and visuals combined with studies or information are learnt to have more positive effect on any student or end user. Latest advancements can provide a more effective and interactive learning environment for the users to add value to their studies and research works based on cultural heritage. Nevertheless, technology cannot alone boost the growing needs to reinforce a cultural scenario within the British society or anywhere else in the world, for that matter, but it also requires the understanding and the intellectual â€Å"capital† to create and develop new and rich cultural content material. This will help the cultural institutions to unlock the rich cultural heritage to the masses. Meanwhile the private sector has already started its efforts in the direction to re-invent the cultural content online. Amazon, BBC, Wikipedia, Second Life and MySpace have out in considerable efforts in this field and have changes the content landscape on the internet within a short period of time. These companies have done revolutionary digitization changes with the existing online content and have improved it beyond imagination. The truth is that they are inevitably assimilating. However, the next big question is that, what are most suitable policies that can meet the desired aims to merge technology and culture at the same time and what will the opportunities that online cultural opportunities can bring forward in a fast changing world. This paper throws some light in these issues and what can be the roles that the different organizations can play to achieve this aim.