Two-thirds of UK citizens agree that curbs on freedoms put in place during the pandemic should be rolled back afterwards, according to a major study the Law Society, the Bar Council and Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
“People don’t expect the rule of law to take a backseat in a time of national emergency,” the leaders of three professional bodies commented. “We don’t know when or how we will emerge from the eye of the COVID-19 storm, but as we do it is vital the many layers limiting rights and freedoms that have been put in place are peeled back.”
Law Gazette reports that the research suggests widespread unease about the state of democracy in the UK. While three-quarters of respondents said living in a democracy was important, fewer than half agreed democracy was working well in the UK, less than one in five said democracy was getting better, and a worrying 41% said it was getting harder to enforce rights.
Backing this up, four out of five respondents said it was important that government obeyed the law, rising to almost nine in 10 of the over 55s. In line with this, three-quarters of respondents (75%) said it was important or very important that politicians understand how the law worked although just 46% agreed that politicians generally understand how the law worked (up from 39% in 2020).
More than two-thirds of people said that after the pandemic it was important people have the same ability to uphold their rights and access legal advice as they did before.
Key findings
The role of the law in upholding and protecting rights
- 68% said the role the law plays in protecting people’s health, wellbeing and security was important or very important to them (8 or above on a scale of 1 to 10, where 0 is not important at all and 10 is very important)
- 70% said the role the law plays in protecting people’s freedoms was important or very important
- 67% said the role the law plays in making sure democracy works well was important or very important
Democracy
- 73% said living in a democracy is important or very important to them (again 8 or above on a scale of 1 to 10)
- 45% agreed “our democracy is working”, but only 17% agreed (38% disagreed) that our democracy is getting better, while a mere 19% agreed that “people in Britain are becoming more free”
- 79% said it is important or very important the government obeys the law, with a wide variance with age – 87% of those aged 55+ versus just 66% of those 34 or under
Citizens’ rights
- 66% said the idea of being able to enforce their rights as a citizen is important or very important (8 or above on a scale of 1 to 10), but 41% agreed “it is becoming harder to enforce your rights” (14% disagreed)
- 69% said it is important or very important to them that people have the same ability to enforce their rights after the pandemic as they did before, and 38% agreed COVID-19 will not have a permanent effect on our rights and freedoms
- 69% said it is important or very important that people have the same access to legal services after the pandemic as they did before, although only 41% thought that people are generally able to access the legal services they need, when they need them
Understanding the law
- 62% said it is important or very important that ordinary people understand how the law and courts work, while 53% agreed they felt they personally understood how the law works
- Only 22% agreed “schools teach how the law works”, while 30% agreed “the media explains how the law and courts work” (up from 21% in 2020)
[link url="https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/rule-of-law-should-not-take-a-backseat-in-pandemic-survey-finds/5107728.article"]Full Law Gazette report (Open access)[/link]