http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/crossheading/legislation/2000-10-02Human Rights Act 1998 An Act to give further effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights; to make provision with respect to holders of certain judicial offices who become judges of the European Court of Human Rights; and for connected purposes.1998-11-09texttext/xmlenStatute Law Database2024-06-242000-10-02 Legislation
3 Interpretation of legislation.(1)

So far as it is possible to do so, primary legislation and subordinate legislation must be read and given effect in a way which is compatible with the Convention rights.

(2)

This section—

(a)

applies to primary legislation and subordinate legislation whenever enacted;

(b)

does not affect the validity, continuing operation or enforcement of any incompatible primary legislation; and

(c)

does not affect the validity, continuing operation or enforcement of any incompatible subordinate legislation if (disregarding any possibility of revocation) primary legislation prevents removal of the incompatibility.

4 Declaration of incompatibility.(1)

Subsection (2) applies in any proceedings in which a court determines whether a provision of primary legislation is compatible with a Convention right.

(2)

If the court is satisfied that the provision is incompatible with a Convention right, it may make a declaration of that incompatibility.

(3)

Subsection (4) applies in any proceedings in which a court determines whether a provision of subordinate legislation, made in the exercise of a power conferred by primary legislation, is compatible with a Convention right.

(4)

If the court is satisfied—

(a)

that the provision is incompatible with a Convention right, and

(b)

that (disregarding any possibility of revocation) the primary legislation concerned prevents removal of the incompatibility,

it may make a declaration of that incompatibility.

(5)

In this section “court” means—

(a)

the House of Lords;

(b)

the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council;

(c)

the Courts-Martial Appeal Court;

(d)

in Scotland, the High Court of Justiciary sitting otherwise than as a trial court or the Court of Session;

(e)

in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, the High Court or the Court of Appeal.

(6)

A declaration under this section (“a declaration of incompatibility”)—

(a)

does not affect the validity, continuing operation or enforcement of the provision in respect of which it is given; and

(b)

is not binding on the parties to the proceedings in which it is made.

5 Right of Crown to intervene.(1)

Where a court is considering whether to make a declaration of incompatibility, the Crown is entitled to notice in accordance with rules of court.

(2)

In any case to which subsection (1) applies—

(a)

a Minister of the Crown (or a person nominated by him),

(b)

a member of the Scottish Executive,

(c)

a Northern Ireland Minister,

(d)

a Northern Ireland department,

is entitled, on giving notice in accordance with rules of court, to be joined as a party to the proceedings.

(3)

Notice under subsection (2) may be given at any time during the proceedings.

(4)

A person who has been made a party to criminal proceedings (other than in Scotland) as the result of a notice under subsection (2) may, with leave, appeal to the House of Lords against any declaration of incompatibility made in the proceedings.

(5)

In subsection (4)—

criminal proceedings” includes all proceedings before the Courts-Martial Appeal Court; and

leave” means leave granted by the court making the declaration of incompatibility or by the House of Lords.

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.
<akomaNtoso xmlns:uk="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/UK-AKN" xmlns:ukl="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/legislation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/ns/akn/3.0" xsi:schemaLocation="http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/ns/akn/3.0 http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/akn-core/v1.0/cos01/part2-specs/schemas/akomantoso30.xsd">
<act name="ukpga">
<meta>
<identification source="#">
<FRBRWork>
<FRBRthis value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/1998/42"/>
<FRBRuri value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/1998/42"/>
<FRBRdate date="1998-11-09" name="enacted"/>
<FRBRauthor href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/legislature/UnitedKingdomParliament"/>
<FRBRcountry value="GB-UKM"/>
<FRBRnumber value="42"/>
<FRBRname value="1998 c. 42"/>
<FRBRprescriptive value="true"/>
</FRBRWork>
<FRBRExpression>
<FRBRthis value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/2000-10-02"/>
<FRBRuri value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/2000-10-02"/>
<FRBRdate date="2000-10-02" name="validFrom"/>
<FRBRauthor href="#"/>
<FRBRlanguage language="eng"/>
</FRBRExpression>
<FRBRManifestation>
<FRBRthis value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/2000-10-02/data.akn"/>
<FRBRuri value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/2000-10-02/data.akn"/>
<FRBRdate date="2024-12-10Z" name="transform"/>
<FRBRauthor href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk"/>
<FRBRformat value="application/akn+xml"/>
</FRBRManifestation>
</identification>
<lifecycle source="#">
<eventRef refersTo="#enactment" date="1998-11-09" eId="date-enacted" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="2000-10-02" eId="date-2000-10-02" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="2001-04-01" eId="date-2001-04-01" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="2007-10-01" eId="date-2007-10-01" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="2009-03-28" eId="date-2009-03-28" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="2013-10-01" eId="date-2013-10-01" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="2018-04-01" eId="date-2018-04-01" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="2024-04-25" eId="date-2024-04-25" source="#"/>
</lifecycle>
<analysis source="#">
<restrictions source="#">
<restriction refersTo="#extent-e+w+s+ni" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#body" refersTo="#extent-e+w+s+ni" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#crossheading-legislation" refersTo="#extent-e+w+s+ni" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-3" refersTo="#extent-e+w+s+ni" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-4" refersTo="#extent-e+w+s+ni" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-5" refersTo="#extent-e+w+s+ni" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction refersTo="#period-from-2000-10-02-to-2001-04-01" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#body" refersTo="#period-from-2000-10-02-to-2001-04-01" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#crossheading-legislation" refersTo="#period-from-2000-10-02-to-2013-10-01" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-3" refersTo="#period-from-2000-10-02-to-2024-04-25" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-4" refersTo="#period-from-2000-10-02-to-2007-10-01" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-5" refersTo="#period-from-2000-10-02-to-2009-03-28" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-5-2" refersTo="#period-to-2018-04-01" type="jurisdiction"/>
</restrictions>
<otherAnalysis source=""/>
</analysis>
<temporalData source="#">
<temporalGroup eId="period-to-2018-04-01">
<timeInterval end="#date-2018-04-01" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
<temporalGroup eId="period-from-2000-10-02-to-2001-04-01">
<timeInterval start="#date-2000-10-02" end="#date-2001-04-01" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
<temporalGroup eId="period-from-2000-10-02-to-2007-10-01">
<timeInterval start="#date-2000-10-02" end="#date-2007-10-01" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
<temporalGroup eId="period-from-2000-10-02-to-2009-03-28">
<timeInterval start="#date-2000-10-02" end="#date-2009-03-28" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
<temporalGroup eId="period-from-2000-10-02-to-2013-10-01">
<timeInterval start="#date-2000-10-02" end="#date-2013-10-01" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
<temporalGroup eId="period-from-2000-10-02-to-2024-04-25">
<timeInterval start="#date-2000-10-02" end="#date-2024-04-25" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
</temporalData>
<references source="#">
<TLCEvent eId="enactment" href="" showAs="EnactmentDate"/>
<TLCLocation eId="extent-e+w+s+ni" href="" showAs="E+W+S+N.I."/>
</references>
<proprietary xmlns:ukm="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/metadata" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" source="#">
<dc:identifier>http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/crossheading/legislation/2000-10-02</dc:identifier>
<dc:title>Human Rights Act 1998</dc:title>
<dc:description> An Act to give further effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights; to make provision with respect to holders of certain judicial offices who become judges of the European Court of Human Rights; and for connected purposes.</dc:description>
<dc:date>1998-11-09</dc:date>
<dc:type>text</dc:type>
<dc:format>text/xml</dc:format>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dc:publisher>Statute Law Database</dc:publisher>
<dc:modified>2024-06-24</dc:modified>
<dct:valid>2000-10-02</dct:valid>
<ukm:PrimaryMetadata>
<ukm:DocumentClassification>
<ukm:DocumentCategory Value="primary"/>
<ukm:DocumentMainType Value="UnitedKingdomPublicGeneralAct"/>
<ukm:DocumentStatus Value="revised"/>
</ukm:DocumentClassification>
<ukm:Year Value="1998"/>
<ukm:Number Value="42"/>
<ukm:EnactmentDate Date="1998-11-09"/>
<ukm:ISBN Value="0105442984"/>
</ukm:PrimaryMetadata>
<ukm:Alternatives>
<ukm:Alternative URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/pdfs/ukpga_19980042_en.pdf" Date="2015-02-15"/>
</ukm:Alternatives>
<ukm:Statistics>
<ukm:TotalParagraphs Value="87"/>
<ukm:BodyParagraphs Value="22"/>
<ukm:ScheduleParagraphs Value="65"/>
<ukm:AttachmentParagraphs Value="0"/>
<ukm:TotalImages Value="0"/>
</ukm:Statistics>
</proprietary>
</meta>
<body eId="body">
<hcontainer name="crossheading" ukl:Name="Pblock" eId="crossheading-legislation" uk:target="true">
<heading> Legislation</heading>
<section eId="section-3">
<num>3</num>
<heading> Interpretation of legislation.</heading>
<subsection eId="section-3-1">
<num>(1)</num>
<content>
<p>So far as it is possible to do so, primary legislation and subordinate legislation must be read and given effect in a way which is compatible with the Convention rights.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-3-2">
<num>(2)</num>
<intro>
<p>This section—</p>
</intro>
<level class="para1" eId="section-3-2-a">
<num>(a)</num>
<content>
<p>applies to primary legislation and subordinate legislation whenever enacted;</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-3-2-b">
<num>(b)</num>
<content>
<p>does not affect the validity, continuing operation or enforcement of any incompatible primary legislation; and</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-3-2-c">
<num>(c)</num>
<content>
<p>does not affect the validity, continuing operation or enforcement of any incompatible subordinate legislation if (disregarding any possibility of revocation) primary legislation prevents removal of the incompatibility.</p>
</content>
</level>
</subsection>
</section>
<section eId="section-4">
<num>4</num>
<heading> Declaration of incompatibility.</heading>
<subsection eId="section-4-1">
<num>(1)</num>
<content>
<p>Subsection (2) applies in any proceedings in which a court determines whether a provision of primary legislation is compatible with a Convention right.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-4-2">
<num>(2)</num>
<content>
<p>If the court is satisfied that the provision is incompatible with a Convention right, it may make a declaration of that incompatibility.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-4-3">
<num>(3)</num>
<content>
<p>Subsection (4) applies in any proceedings in which a court determines whether a provision of subordinate legislation, made in the exercise of a power conferred by primary legislation, is compatible with a Convention right.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-4-4">
<num>(4)</num>
<intro>
<p>If the court is satisfied—</p>
</intro>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-4-a">
<num>(a)</num>
<content>
<p>that the provision is incompatible with a Convention right, and</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-4-b">
<num>(b)</num>
<content>
<p>that (disregarding any possibility of revocation) the primary legislation concerned prevents removal of the incompatibility,</p>
</content>
</level>
<wrapUp>
<p>it may make a declaration of that incompatibility.</p>
</wrapUp>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-4-5">
<num>(5)</num>
<intro>
<p>
In this section “
<term refersTo="#term-court" eId="term-court">court</term>
” means—
</p>
</intro>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-5-a">
<num>(a)</num>
<content>
<p>the House of Lords;</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-5-b">
<num>(b)</num>
<content>
<p>the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council;</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-5-c">
<num>(c)</num>
<content>
<p>the Courts-Martial Appeal Court;</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-5-d">
<num>(d)</num>
<content>
<p>in Scotland, the High Court of Justiciary sitting otherwise than as a trial court or the Court of Session;</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-5-e">
<num>(e)</num>
<content>
<p>in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, the High Court or the Court of Appeal.</p>
</content>
</level>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-4-6">
<num>(6)</num>
<intro>
<p>
A declaration under this section (“
<term refersTo="#term-a-declaration-of-incompatibility" eId="term-a-declaration-of-incompatibility">a declaration of incompatibility</term>
”)—
</p>
</intro>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-6-a">
<num>(a)</num>
<content>
<p>does not affect the validity, continuing operation or enforcement of the provision in respect of which it is given; and</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-4-6-b">
<num>(b)</num>
<content>
<p>is not binding on the parties to the proceedings in which it is made.</p>
</content>
</level>
</subsection>
</section>
<section eId="section-5">
<num>5</num>
<heading> Right of Crown to intervene.</heading>
<subsection eId="section-5-1">
<num>(1)</num>
<content>
<p>Where a court is considering whether to make a declaration of incompatibility, the Crown is entitled to notice in accordance with rules of court.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-5-2">
<num>(2)</num>
<intro>
<p>In any case to which subsection (1) applies—</p>
</intro>
<level class="para1" eId="section-5-2-a">
<num>(a)</num>
<content>
<p>a Minister of the Crown (or a person nominated by him),</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-5-2-b">
<num>(b)</num>
<content>
<p>a member of the Scottish Executive,</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-5-2-c">
<num>(c)</num>
<content>
<p>a Northern Ireland Minister,</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-5-2-d">
<num>(d)</num>
<content>
<p>a Northern Ireland department,</p>
</content>
</level>
<wrapUp>
<p>is entitled, on giving notice in accordance with rules of court, to be joined as a party to the proceedings.</p>
</wrapUp>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-5-3">
<num>(3)</num>
<content>
<p>Notice under subsection (2) may be given at any time during the proceedings.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-5-4">
<num>(4)</num>
<content>
<p>A person who has been made a party to criminal proceedings (other than in Scotland) as the result of a notice under subsection (2) may, with leave, appeal to the House of Lords against any declaration of incompatibility made in the proceedings.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-5-5">
<num>(5)</num>
<intro>
<p>In subsection (4)—</p>
</intro>
<hcontainer name="definition">
<content>
<p>
<term refersTo="#term-criminal-proceedings" eId="term-criminal-proceedings">criminal proceedings</term>
” includes all proceedings before the Courts-Martial Appeal Court; and
</p>
</content>
</hcontainer>
<hcontainer name="definition">
<content>
<p>
<term refersTo="#term-leave" eId="term-leave">leave</term>
” means leave granted by the court making the declaration of incompatibility or by the House of Lords.
</p>
</content>
</hcontainer>
</subsection>
</section>
</hcontainer>
</body>
</act>
</akomaNtoso>