Which articles of the European Convention on Human Rights does the Countryside Alliance believe the act contravenes?
There are seven in total. These include the right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions, respect for private life, right to association and assembly for a common purpose, freedom of thought and freedom from discrimination on class grounds. The Alliance also claims that the government has contravened the convention’s seizure and forfeiture rules, and that the criminal offences created by the Act are not precise enough for people to know when they are committing an offence. If the human rights challenge succeeds, will the Hunting Act be suspended? Not necessarily. The courts only have the power to declare it incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Parliament would then consider how, if at all, to change the Act to make it compatible. That would not affect the continuing legal force of the Act.
