EM1351 - Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA): How does the Human Rights Act 1998 affect HMRC

The provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) were incorporated into UK law on 2 October 2000 when the Human Rights Act came into force. The provisions apply to companies as well as individuals and are enforceable in the UK courts.

This section gives general guidance on

• Article 8 (rights of privacy), see EM1355 
• Article 6 (rights to a fair trial), see EM1360.

There is also related guidance about

• Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) at EM1806 
• Human Intelligence Sources at EM1886.

The legal position is evolving, and following the decision in the tax case King v UK, see EM1385, HMRC has accepted that a limited number of our penalties could be deemed as ‘criminal’ for the purposes of Article 6 ECHR.

For guidance on

• what this means and which penalties are affected, see EM1361 
• what to tell the taxpayer, see EM1364.