Unburdening Defendants with the Human Rights Act: Premature Implementation?

Extract

Although opinion is divided on the significance of the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”), most agree that the Human Rights Act 1998 is likely to have its greatest influence on the criminal justice process. The latest and best word on the implementation date of the principal sections of the Act is 2 October 2000, but its impact on the exercise of statutory discretion has already been felt as a result of the Divisional Court's decision in R. v. Director of Public Prosecutions, ex p. Kebilene [1999] 3 W.L.R. 175.