Question 1

Is the European Court of Human Rights part of the EU?

Accepted Answer

**No.** They are entirely separate institutions belonging to different organisations, and conflating them is among the most persistent confusions in British public discussion.

**The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)**, in **Strasbourg**, is a court of the **Council of Europe** — an organisation founded in 1949 with a much broader membership than the EU, including Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. It rules on alleged breaches of the **European Convention on Human Rights**.

**The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)**, in **Luxembourg**, is an institution of the **European Union**. It interprets EU law and rules on disputes between member states and EU institutions.

**The UK's position.** The UK left the EU and is no longer subject to the CJEU in the way it was. The UK **remains** a member of the Council of Europe and a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, so the ECtHR still applies. Membership of the two organisations is independent, and leaving one had no effect on the other.

**British involvement in the Convention is substantial and frequently forgotten.** The UK was among its architects after the Second World War, with British lawyers — notably **David Maxwell Fyfe** — playing a leading drafting role, and the UK was among the first states to ratify it.

**How it works domestically.** The **Human Rights Act 1998** incorporated Convention rights into UK law, so cases can be heard in **UK courts** rather than requiring an application to Strasbourg. UK courts must take Strasbourg case law into account and interpret legislation compatibly where possible; where they cannot, they may issue a **declaration of incompatibility**, which does **not** strike down the legislation — Parliament decides what to do about it. This preserves parliamentary sovereignty and is a deliberate design feature.

**Exhausting domestic remedies** is required before applying to Strasbourg, and the great majority of applications are declared inadmissible.

**A third institution frequently confused with both:** the **European Council** and the **Council of the European Union** are EU bodies, distinct from the **Council of Europe** despite the names.

General information, not legal advice.

Question 2

What does the Human Rights Act actually do?

Accepted Answer

It makes the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights enforceable in UK courts — so you can raise them here rather than travelling to Strasbourg. It did not create the rights; it brought

Question 3

What is a tribunal and how is it different from a court?

Accepted Answer

Tribunals are specialist judicial bodies resolving disputes in particular areas — most commonly between individuals and the state, or between employers and employees. They are part of the justice

Question 4

Does the UK have a constitution?

Accepted Answer

Yes — it is simply not written in a single document, which is what people mean when they say it is unwritten. The rules exist; they are just scattered, and some of them are not law at all. Where the

Question 5

What is the difference between a magistrates' court and a Crown Court?

Accepted Answer

They handle different levels of criminal offence, with different personnel, procedures and sentencing powers. Magistrates' court. All criminal cases in England and Wales start here, and the large

Question 6

What is devolution and what does Westminster still control?

Accepted Answer

Devolution is the transfer of specified powers from the UK Parliament to the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly. It is not federalism, and the distinction

Question 7

What is common law and how is it different from statute?

Accepted Answer

Statute is law made by Parliament. Common law is law developed by judges through decided cases. Both are binding law in England and Wales, and the system runs on both simultaneously. How common law

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