In the first half of the 20th Century, the United Kingdom’s counter-terror laws were
couched extremely broadly. Consequently, they bestowed upon the executive
extraordinarily wide powers with which it could address perceived threats of
terrorism. In that period of time, the internal affairs of any state were considered
sacrosanct and beyond the reach of international law. Consequentially, international
human rights law was not a feature of the first half of the 20th Century.
Following the war, however, international human rights law grew steadily, largely
through the propagation of international treaties. As the 20th Century progressed, the
United Kingdom became increasingly involved in international human rights law,
particularly by way of the ratification of a number of treaties. Prior to the year 2000,
none of these treaties had been directly incorporated into the United Kingdom’s
municipal law. The traditional Dualist understanding of the relationship between
international treaty law and municipal law in the United Kingdom, would hold that
these unincorporated human rights treaties would form no part of that state’s domestic
law.
This Dualist assumption is called into question, however, by a legislative trend which
neatly coincides with the United Kingdom’s increased involvement with international
human rights. This trend consists of two elements, firstly, the progressively plethoric
and specific ways in which the United Kingdom began to define its anti-terror laws.
The specificity in which this legislation was set out curtailed the executive’s powers.
The second element is that, over time, the United Kingdom’s counter-terror laws
increasingly began to include checks and balances on the executive. There is a clear
correlation between these trends and the United Kingdom’s evolving relationship with
international human rights law. That nation’s enmeshment with international human
rights law from 1945 onwards is undeniably linked with the parallel evolution of its
domestic counter-terror laws.
v
One of the grounds on which the status of international law is questioned is that it is
ineffectual. This thesis calls such arguments into question, as it shows that
international human rights treaties have meaningfully impacted on the United
Kingdom’s evolving counter-terror laws and thereby successfully enforced the norms
they advocate. / Public, Constitutional, and International / LL.D.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/10348 |
| Date | 07 August 2013 |
| Creators | Webber, Craig William Alec |
| Contributors | Botha, N. J. (Neville John), 1951- |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xvi, 370 leaves) |
| Rights | University of South Africa |
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