The Act incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law. The Convention is a 50-year-old code of basic rights drawn up in the aftermath of the Second World War,and covers such rights as that to a family life, to privacy and a fair trial.Prior to 2000,although UK courts could take note of the rights identi-fied by the Convention,they could not be directly enforced,so aggrieved parties often had to take cases to the European Court Of Human Rights for a remedy-a lengthy and costly process.
The Act incorporates only part of the European Convention and does not incorporate any of the procedural rights of the Convention.However,it does include all the following substantive rights: