Post 9/11, and especially with the dramatic rise of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the author advocates a collective right to security. Plotting a course through state absolutism and liberalism one 'finds' communitarianism as a philosophy to support this right to security. The author's 'communitarian', right to security is based on an interpretation of European human rights law, particularly 'positive' duties of the state, to protect the rights to life of individuals from violations by non-state actors such as suspected terrorists. But for reasons of practical enforcement limitations to the exercise of the right are also articulated.
Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights is freedom from slavery. A key feature of this right is the obligation it imposes on states such as the UK to prevent violations of the freedom, such as the trafficking in human beings, by third parties. This piece finds that the UK's response to its duties in preventing human trafficking is patchy but concludes that this will be much improved with its new Modern Slavery Bill 2014-15.
KeywordsHuman rights; freedom from slavery; positive obligations; human trafficking 2 2
The Human Rights Act 1998 came into effect in the UK in 2000, incorporating specific Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, such as the freedoms from torture (Article 3) and slavery (Article 4), into British law. But this legislation, and the rights it enshrines, are under severe attack from Politicians and sections of the British Press. This article presents a strong defence of the statute, by reference to one of its notable achievements: the obligation it imposed on the UK to outlaw the holding of a person in slavery or servitude, or compelling them to perform compulsory labour.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.