The Human Rights Act 1998 came fully into force on 2 October 2000. Human rights cases can now be brought in UK courts and all public authorities in the UK (including the Charity Commission) have to act in a way which is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

We recognise the importance of our obligations under the Human Rights Act and a copy of our internal guidance on this is available (OG71).

The Human Rights Act gives every citizen statutory rights based on the European Convention on Human Rights, which can be enforced against public authorities and private bodies carrying out public functions. The Human Rights Act will therefore have implications for some voluntary organisations, including charities. Not only will charities be able to benefit from those rights, where they are regarded as a public authority for the purposes of the Human Rights Act they may also have responsibilities. Our internal guidance includes guidance on how we believe the Human Rights Act will affect some charities (OG71 B3).

However, (as with Freedom of Information) if your charity carries out a public function for a government department but you are unsure as to whether the European Convention on Human Rights will have implications for your work, we would advise you to contact that department for clarification and not just rely on the guidance we have produced.

To obtain further information about human rights there are a number of websites and helplines that you may find useful. These include:

The Home Office Human Rights Unit: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/hract

This site contains material on the Human Rights Act, Parliamentary questions, frequently asked questions, and other material relating to the Human Rights Task Force, the Human Rights Act and international human rights instruments.

The Home Office Human Rights Helpline: Telephone: 0207 273 2166

The Council of Europe, Human Rights Directorate: http://www.humanrights.coe.int/default.htm This site contains details of the Council’s work in the human rights field.

The European Court of Human Rights: http://www.echr.coe.int/

This site contains details of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgements.