The United Kingdom (UK) Human Rights Act 1998 is an Act of UK Parliament that came into force on 2 October 2000. It gives effect to the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights at a national level.

The European Convention on Human Rights protects civil, political and judicial rights.

The Human Rights Act makes it unlawful for any public body to act in a manner incompatible with the ECHR. However, this rule does not apply if, as a result of a provision of national legislation, the authority could not have acted differently. This is a consequence of the common law principle of parliamentary sovereignty. The Human Rights Act also abolishes the death penalty in UK law.

In addition to that, the Human Rights Act 1998 has various consequences for the judiciary of the UK. Judges are to interpret national legislation, as far as possible, in a way that is compatible with the Convention. If it is not possible to interpret an Act of Parliament so as to make it compatible with the Convention, the court will issue a declaration of incompatibility to parliament. This has no actual legal effect on the decision and the parties neither gain nor lose by it. However, Parliament will review the incompatible law and may take into account the Court's declaration.

Decisions from the European Court of Human Rights need to be considered in similar cases at a national level and have the role of precedent.

The Act also makes available a remedy in UK courts for the breach of a Convention right, so that victims of human rights violations no longer need to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Austria.

UK Act used by its opponents

Upon its introduction, the Human Rights Act was strongly criticised by the British National Party (BNP). However, in November 2008, the entire member list of the BNP was leaked on the internet. Ironically, lawyers for the BNP used their right to privacy under the Human Rights Act to obtain a court injunction against the publication of the list.

Read more about the UK Human Rights Act in action.