ALL public authorities must respect human rights
The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) imposes a duty on all public authorities to act compatibly with your Convention rights. However, whilst some public authorities such as the police, the courts and the prison service know that the HRA applies to them and receive training on how to ensure that their actions are compatible with the Convention rights, others authorities seem to be less well prepared.
An example of this is planning authorities. Liberty received a query from a campaigner that was trying to stop the construction of a by-pass that would affect his home and those of 5.000 other households. The noise, pollution and disturbance caused by the construction of the road and by the traffic would be sufficiently severe to interfere with the residents’ right to respect for their private life and their homes, which is protected under Article 8. This right is not absolute, and planning authorities can interfere with people’s right to respect for their privacy and their homes. However, such interference will only be lawful under the HRA if the authority can show that it is a lawful, is necessary in pursuit of a legitimate aim and is proportionate to that aim.
So when making a planning decision which potentially affects an individual’s Article 8 rights, the planning authority should consider whether that decision is truly necessary and whether it is proportionate to the aim which is being sought. This may involve considering whether there are other options available which would achieve the same objective without interfering so much with the individual’s Convention rights.
In this case, the planning authority completely failed to consider the Convention rights of the affected households. There was in fact an alternative route which would have a significantly lesser impact on the rights of those living along the route. However, this was not properly considered.
Liberty advised the campaigner on how to use human rights arguments in his submissions to the planning authorities. Those arguments were successful and the decision was called in and the alternative route ended up being chosen. The planning authorities recognised that they had not given proper weight to the Convention rights of the affected individuals. They have now decided to train all their planning officers in human rights law.
An example of this is planning authorities. Liberty received a query from a campaigner that was trying to stop the construction of a by-pass that would affect his home and those of 5.000 other households. The noise, pollution and disturbance caused by the construction of the road and by the traffic would be sufficiently severe to interfere with the residents’ right to respect for their private life and their homes, which is protected under Article 8. This right is not absolute, and planning authorities can interfere with people’s right to respect for their privacy and their homes. However, such interference will only be lawful under the HRA if the authority can show that it is a lawful, is necessary in pursuit of a legitimate aim and is proportionate to that aim.
So when making a planning decision which potentially affects an individual’s Article 8 rights, the planning authority should consider whether that decision is truly necessary and whether it is proportionate to the aim which is being sought. This may involve considering whether there are other options available which would achieve the same objective without interfering so much with the individual’s Convention rights.
In this case, the planning authority completely failed to consider the Convention rights of the affected households. There was in fact an alternative route which would have a significantly lesser impact on the rights of those living along the route. However, this was not properly considered.
Liberty advised the campaigner on how to use human rights arguments in his submissions to the planning authorities. Those arguments were successful and the decision was called in and the alternative route ended up being chosen. The planning authorities recognised that they had not given proper weight to the Convention rights of the affected individuals. They have now decided to train all their planning officers in human rights law.
