Law review finds Jersey lacks human rights culture

Professor Andrew Le Sueur said there was a lack of awareness of what the European Convention on Human Rights meant for islanders

A law expert has said Jersey lacks the human rights culture that legislation brought in 25 years ago was aimed at developing.

Professor Andrew Le Sueur of the Jersey Law Commission shared the findings of his review into the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000 (HRJL) at an event hosted by the Jersey Human Rights Group (JHRG) on Monday.

He said when Jersey signed up to the European Convention of Human Rights in 2000 the intention was for islanders to know what their rights were and know they were able to enforce them.

The Jersey Law Commission is currently consulting on 11 reform proposals to strengthen the operation of the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000.

'A lack of awareness'

Professor Le Sueur said: "There's a bit of a risk that whilst the law has achieved some technical things really well, it hasn't built this shared understanding that we've all got rights that need to be respected."

He said in a typical year there were at least 20 cases where people cited human rights.

Since the HRJL had been introduced there had been only 29 cases challenging public authorities and only four cases brought by women, and three of those had been brought with a male partner, he said.

"I think there is a lack of awareness of what the European Convention on Human Rights actually means for islanders," he added.

JHRG chair Deputy Montford Tadier said islanders needed to know how to go about enforcing their human rights

The professor's research pointed out efforts to inform the public about their rights have waned since the initial public education campaign when the HRJL was introduced.

Deputy Montfort Tadier, JHRG chair, said: "Early indications are there are perhaps some groups, for example women and those with lower incomes, who might find it difficult to enforce their human rights in Jersey or to even know how to go about it."

"I think you need to know how to enforce your human rights, you need to have access to lawyers and not everyone in Jersey can necessarily have that," he added.