PM highlights British/US mutual respect for values

KEYNOTE SPEECH: Blair lauds positive role of Human Rights Act

The implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998 and its resonance with the US constitution formed the centrepiece of Prime Minister Tony Blair's keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the American Bar Association's annual conference in London this week.

He said the Act, which comes into force in October, would 'transform' judicial decision-making.

It will change society in the UK from one of negative rights to one 'where freedom is merely what is left over after the restrictions imposed by common law and statue', to one based on positive rights, he said.Mr Blair added that the fathers of the US Constitution would have found something very familiar in the fundamental rights and freedoms set out in the Convention.

Addressing a capacity audience at the Royal Albert Hall, Mr Blair also highlighted the historical common law bond of the two countries.

'The common law, and the common values that go with it, were England's first exports to America,' he said.However, Mr Blair said that in return, some of the rights and liberties contained in UK legislation had used the US as their model.

He drew particular attention to UK race and gender legislation which he said was based on state anti-discrimination laws developed after the second world war and last year's civil justice reforms, which he said owed much to US judicial management techniques.'Our tendency to learn from each other can only grow, with the progressive convergence of cultural and scientific influences across the world,' he added.

Sue Allen