The Dynamic Treaty of the European Convention on Human Rights

It is a basic constitutional principle that international treaties have no effect on people's legal rights or duties without an act of parliament. In theory, this means that parliament always has the last word on the contents of our law - even when it originates in a treaty. But there is one category of treaties which largely escapes parliamentary control: dynamic treaties. A dynamic treaty does not just say what our domestic law should be but provides a supranational mechanism for altering and developing it in future. The Human Rights Act 1998 empowers the British courts to strike down any rule of common law, regulation or government decision found to be incompatible with the Human Rights Convention. Crucially, the Human Rights Act requires