Northumbria Police praised in human rights review

Northumbria Police has been singled out for particular praise for the way it considers the human rights of victims and its handling of incidents of domestic violence.

In a landmark review of how well public authorities, including the police, deliver human rights protection and promotion in England and Wales, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the force focuses on the victim’s safety, protecting their children and managing the behaviour of the offender.

“Officers deal with incidents as domestic violence instead of breaches of the peace. It supports victims until the risk of domestic violence is reduced or removed,” the report said.

The review, published last week, said that despite people in England and Wales having their human rights upheld in a number of ways, more could be done to improve human rights protections for some – including people using care services and victims of crime. It says that the core principles of human rights – dignity, equality and respect for everyone – should get more emphasis.

The review found that many public authorities have a good track record in using human rights principles to protect the public. However, the review also found that some are not using human rights principles as much as they could to protect people. Some of the problems highlighted include the abuse of vulnerable people in care; misuse of personal data by the state; treating victims of human trafficking as criminals; threats to the right to peaceful protest; and lack of support for some victims of crime.

In addition, the review measured the Government’s progress against human rights standards in areas where it has to make difficult policy decisions which include decisions around national security and immigration.

Geraldine Van Bueren, commissioner of the EHRC, said: “Britain has a long and passionate commitment to human rights. Because of this commitment, most people in Britain can live their lives as they wish to, free from government control or interference. However, we cannot take our rights for granted.

“All of us benefit from human rights because these improve our daily lives. Human rights should not only get our attention when people we might not like try to use these rights. Nor should the value of human rights be limited to when we see what happens to people in other countries when these rights do not exist.”

The EHRC concluded that putting human rights principles into public service practice is in the public interest, and evidence shows that public bodies taking human rights seriously treat people better.