Constitutional and Judicial Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Constitutional and Judicial Review - Essay Example Counter arguments are however there and this is to the effect that the Human Rights Act 1998 does give the courts the right to strike down any legislation that it feels is incompatible with the European Convention by stating so. The courts may not choose to exercise this option and may prefer to interpret it as far as possible as required by Section 3 of the Human Rights Act of 1998. Yet the decision lies with the court in choosing whether exercise this to option and call for amending the legislation. This is contrary to the traditional understanding of parliamentary sovereignty and should the courts choose to exercise this option it would lead to a constitutional crisis. (Gillespie, A. Alisdair. Human Rights Act 1998: The 5 Minute Tour). British courts feel bound to display Acts of parliament that are inconsistent with the European Law, but not those that are inconsistent with the European Human Rights law, because all twelve articles except Article 13 of the principal Convention articles have been included in the Human Rights Act of 1998. The leaving out of Article 13 was intentional and the official position for not including this article in the Human Rights Act of 1998 is that the Act itself is Article 13 and provides the necessary measures for any citizen to seek relief in case there are of any breaches. It must also be remembered that any citizen of the United Kingdom as a citizen of the European Union can approach the European Court of Human Rights for relief in case of any breaches.