Andrew Bartlett, in his blog for today, argues that having a constitutional Bill of Rights offers no guarantees for the rights of refugees, saying that
‘no legislative framework is sufficient to deliver fundamental rights and protect the foundations of the rule of law when the general citizenry supports or accepts government actions that degrade these basic principles’
and lists abuses of human rights in Greece and the USA, both of which have legislated human rights laws.
When researching a paper several years ago I was shocked to discover that even though the Rule of Law was proclaimed in the German constitution it was overcome by the proclamation in 1851 of the law of Schutzhaft. Shutzhaft was instituted to provide ‘protective custody’ independent of criminal behaviour, and facilitated by this law, concentration camps for Jews were instituted.
Protection of rights depends on the ‘general citizenry’ – that’s us, I’m afraid.
