The British Humanist Association (BHA) has responded the Ministry of Justice Green Paper, ‘Rights and Responsibilities: developing our constitutional framework’. BHA Vice President Professor Richard Norman, member of the Humanist Philosophers, wrote the paper on behalf of the BHA, which explores in depth a number of key historical and contemporary issues.
Andrew Copson, BHA Director of Education and Public Affairs, said, ‘The BHA has always concerned itself with issues of constitutional reform in the interests of fostering an open society, from our longstanding campaign against the right of Bishops to sit in the House of Lords to wider and complex issues the relationship of rights between the individual and the state.’
‘We were particularly pleased to respond to this Green Paper. Humanists are deeply committed to human rights and the BHA campaigns to promote a culture of respect for human rights in the UK; humanists have always been in the forefront of such work. We see the Green Paper as a good point for discussion about issues of human rights, responsibilities and our own response to it discusses ways in which people now and in the future can enjoy their rights entitlements and social responsibilities.’
Mr Copson continued, ‘Our response makes special mention of the need to include children’s rights in any future Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. Too often the rights of children and young people are overlooked or excluded’.
Reflecting our commitment to realising children’s rights, we have also recently joined a new national coalition which calls on the Government to make the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) part of UK law.
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For further comment or information, contact Andrew Copson on 020 7079 3584.
The paper explores if our rights and responsibilities should be drawn together in one place, perhaps in a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, so they are easily accessible and understood. You can read the Green Paper here.
Read more about the Humanist Philosophers.
The Rights of the Child UK (Rock) coalition was started by the Children’s Rights Alliance for England.
The British Humanist Association (BHA) is the national charity representing the interests of the large and growing population of ethically concerned, non-religious people living in the UK. The BHA is deeply committed to human rights and advocates an open and inclusive society in which individual freedom of belief and speech are supported by a policy of disinterested impartiality on the part of the government and official bodies towards the many groups within society so long as they conform to the minimum conventions of the society.