Summary of Part A After studying Part A you should be able to: describe what is meant by a formal rule; identify a formal rule; describe the problems associated with rule making. Except for third party materials and otherwise stated (see terms and conditions), this content is made available under a Author(s): 4 Why do social workers need to know about the law? From our discussion of social work and the meaning of law you will already have some answers to this question. We will now bring them together and relate them to wider debates about the content of the social work curriculum. We have seen that there are few right answers in social work. However, if practitioners do not know where they stand legally they cannot begin to do their job properly because they will not be able to give appropriate advice and support to service users. They will a 3.3 How is law made? If you believe that laws are unjust in some way – perhaps because you regard them as being in conflict with our natural rights or consider that the rights they bestow do not adequately serve our interests – that does not alter their status as laws. The content of the law is decided by recognised law-making bodies in accordance with the rules of the constitution and the remedy for ‘unjust’ laws in a liberal democracy like the UK is to campaign to change them via the democratic pro 3.1 The idea of law As with social work, our ideas about law are shaped through a series of images and encounters, and these affect our expectations of law as an area of study. They also have an impact on our reaction to legal intervention, which we have seen is relevant to social work practice. Acknowledgements 3.3 How is law made? 3.2 Law in action vs law in books 3.1 The idea of law 2.3 Social work and social change 2.2 Finding out about social work Learning outcomes Introduction 5 Review of the learning outcomes This unit discussed the meaning of privacy and what a right to privacy protects. Privacy has variously been defined as: the right to be left alone; freedom from interruption, intrusion, embarrassment or accountability; control of the disclosure of personal information; protection of the individual's independence, dignity and integrity; secrecy, anonymity and solitude; the right to protection from intrusion into your personal life. The 4.4 Summary of part D Article 8 protects the right to respect for private life, family life, home and correspondence. The European Court of Human Rights has used Article 8 to protect the individual against excessive and unregulated police surveillance (Malone v UK, 1984; Perry v UK, 2003); interference with an individual's correspondence (Foxley v UK, 2001; Halford v UK, 1997); and state intrusion into the individual's sexual practice 4.2 The protection of private interests in public places Thus far we have seen how the European Court of Human Rights has used the right to a private life to protect individuals from excessive police surveillance, interception of their private correspondence and interference with their private sexual practices. Almost everyone must live partly in public, and private interests need protection in public places as well as on private property. In the Naomi Campbell case, the House of Lords acknowledged that in certain circumstances there may be a reaso 4.1 The right to privacy and the state The European Convention on Human Rights impacts upon legal rules in the UK. The European Convention protects a series of fundamental human rights. All final judgments of the European Court of Human Rights are binding on the state involved. In other words, the UK is expected to change the law to accommodate the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. In Part D we will examine the right to privacy as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and consider how the European Court 3.3 Summary of part C What the courts have established in the cases we have looked at is not a hard and fast privacy doctrine, but a situation in which each case is decided by individual judges on its particular merits. There is no free-standing right to privacy for individuals to enforce. However, where individuals have a strong countervailing interest to protect, the courts are willing to uphold their right to confidence. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones successf 3.2 Is there a right to privacy in the UK? From these cases it seems that a duty of confidence clearly exists where confidential information comes to the knowledge of the media. However, the courts are not willing to limit the media's freedom of expression where the issues concern extramarital affairs. It appears that there must be some significant countervailing interest in order to uphold the right to confidence; in Naomi Campbell's case that countervailing interest was that she wished to protect the integrity of her medical treatme 3.1 The expansion of the right to confidence While there is no common law right to privacy, the law relating to breach of confidence has been expanded to a degree which suggests that privacy claims are now being given greater protection. The right to confidence has been expanded in recent cases such as Douglas and Others v Hello! Ltd (2001). In this case the Court of Appeal ruled that individuals have a right to personal privacy which was grounded in the doctrine of confidence. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones had granted 2,2 The right to confidence Those who allege that their privacy has been invaded commonly rely on the action of ‘breach of the right to confidence’. The common law right to confidence is a recognised right. The essence of the right to confidence may be summarised as misuse of private information. The English courts have established, in numerous decisions, that obtaining or publishing unauthorised photographs or information amounts to a breach of confidence in situations where a ‘duty of confidence’ exi

Social work is a dynamic profession that is undergoing a period of significant change in Scotland. Social workers have the power to make assessments and decisions that radically alter people's lives. This unit introduces the law as it relates to social work and encourages an understanding of the context of the law in order to make sound decisions.
Social work is a dynamic profession that is undergoing a period of significant change in Scotland. Social workers have the power to make assessments and decisions that radically alter people's lives. This unit introduces the law as it relates to social work and encourages an understanding of the context of the law in order to make sound decisions.
Social work is a dynamic profession that is undergoing a period of significant change in Scotland. Social workers have the power to make assessments and decisions that radically alter people's lives. This unit introduces the law as it relates to social work and encourages an understanding of the context of the law in order to make sound decisions.
Social work is a dynamic profession that is undergoing a period of significant change in Scotland. Social workers have the power to make assessments and decisions that radically alter people's lives. This unit introduces the law as it relates to social work and encourages an understanding of the context of the law in order to make sound decisions.
Social work is a dynamic profession that is undergoing a period of significant change in Scotland. Social workers have the power to make assessments and decisions that radically alter people's lives. This unit introduces the law as it relates to social work and encourages an understanding of the context of the law in order to make sound decisions.
Social work is a dynamic profession that is undergoing a period of significant change in Scotland. Social workers have the power to make assessments and decisions that radically alter people's lives. This unit introduces the law as it relates to social work and encourages an understanding of the context of the law in order to make sound decisions.
Social work is a dynamic profession that is undergoing a period of significant change in Scotland. Social workers have the power to make assessments and decisions that radically alter people's lives. This unit introduces the law as it relates to social work and encourages an understanding of the context of the law in order to make sound decisions.
Social work is a dynamic profession that is undergoing a period of significant change in Scotland. Social workers have the power to make assessments and decisions that radically alter people's lives. This unit introduces the law as it relates to social work and encourages an understanding of the context of the law in order to make sound decisions.













