Recommendation 9

The approach to applying human rights principles needs to be sufficiently flexible to stand the test of time. Human rights law must be able to evolve and adapt to changing circumstances. Disconnecting the application of human rights from the way they have been applied to modern societal circumstances by the relevant 78 Human Rights Act Reform caselaw of the UK Courts and the ECtHR will not benefit people in the UK. There is no place in a modern Bill of Rights for an approach which would give effect to rights as they would have been understood and applied to a 1950s society. Such a premise is not consistent with the UK’s human rights obligations, the nature of fundamental human rights, or the nature of the common law.