Authoritative overview of HRA for non-specialists

This is the eighth edition of a book intended as a ‘concise and accessible’ guide to the Human Rights Act.

In the polemical preface by Helen Mountfield KC, and in the body of the text, the authors dispute the idea that the act was a piece of revolutionary legislation, but also state that it is now a ‘constitutional statute’. They emphasise the role of the Conservative politicians Winston Churchill and David Maxwell Fyfe in the creation of the European Convention on Human Rights, intended to reflect traditional British values of liberty, rather than, as more extreme critics have suggested, the Convention involving ‘European’ mores being imposed upon Britain. Mountfield expresses concerns about current politicians’ threats to the act.

Such historical and political debates are more likely to interest academics. For practitioners, the primary interest is the explanation of the different rights under the act and the discussion of relevant cases. In that respect the book is authoritative, as one would expect from the authors, all experienced barristers at Matrix Chambers, except for Wadham who is a solicitor at Doughty St Chambers. The prose is also commendably clear and assisted by extensive footnotes, and the act itself is set out in full.

The chief difficulty is the sheer number of cases and other relevant material. Since the act came into force there have been associated legal developments – notably the Equality Act 2010 – which have produced a complex legal landscape for human rights (of course, the 2010 act was not a novel intervention but replaced earlier legislation). Inevitably this leads to less room for discussion of cases and issues than practitioners would require, even in a book running to almost 500 pages. It leaves the book’s primary audience as students and non-specialists seeking an introduction to this law.

James Wilson is an independent legal author. His most recent book is Lord Denning: Life, Law and Legacy (Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2023)