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Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1 page

(HMSO)

The government's official publisher, which was privatized on 1 October 1996. Most of its functions were taken over by The *Stationery Office; however, certain of its functions have been retained. These include administration of Crown and Parliamentary copyright, overseeing the functions of the Queen's Printer in relation to Acts of Parliament, statutory instruments, and some other material of an official or legislative nature, the administration of the library subsidy, and provision of official publications to members of the European Parliament. It operates as part of the Office of Public Services in the Cabinet Office. The Copyright Unit of Her Majesty's Stationery Office handles day-to-day administration in this area.

high contracting parties

The representatives of states who have signed or ratified a *treaty. From the point of view of international law it is immaterial where the treaty-making power resides (e.g. in ahead of state, a senate, or a representative body): this is a question determinable by the constitutional law of the particular contracting state concerned. Other nations are entitled only to demand from those with whom they contract a de facto capacity to bind the society that they represent. The House of Lords has held that the determination of who the high contracting parties are is to be based upon the terms of the individual treaty in question. Thus the signatories, as well as the parties, can be considered to be high contracting parties.

High Court of Justice

A court created by the Judicature Acts 1873-75, forming part of the *Supreme Court of Judicature. Under Part 7 of the *Civil Procedure Rules, which sets out the rules for starting proceedings, the High Court is restricted to (1) personal injury claims of £50,000 or more, (2) other claims exceeding £15,000, (3) specialist High Court claims that are required to be placed on a specialist list (e.g. the Commercial List), and (4) claims that are required by statute to be commenced in the High Court. The High Court has *appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. It is divided into the three Divisions: the *Queen's Bench Division, *Chancery Division, and *Family Division.

high seas

The seas beyond *territorial waters, i.e. the seas more than 12 miles from the coasts of most countries. The English courts have jurisdiction to try offences committed by anyone anywhere on the high seas in a British ship. They also have jurisdiction to try offences committed anywhere in the world on board a British-controlled aircraft while it is in flight. Sometimes these offences amount to the special crimes of *hijacking or *piracy.

The high seas as defined by Article 86 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 exclude the *exclusive economic zone. However, the freedoms of all states to fly over, navigate, lay submarine cables, etc., in the exclusive economic zone, as stated in the earlier Geneva Convention on the High Seas 1958, have been preserved in Article 58 (1) of the UN Convention.



See also law of the sea.

highway

n.

A road or other way over which the public may pass and repass as of right. Highways include *footpaths, *bridle ways, *driftways, carriage ways, and cul-de-sacs. Navigable rivers are also highways. A highway is created either under statutory powers or by dedication (express or implied) by a landowner and acceptance (by use) by the public. Once a highway has been created, it does not cease to be a highway by reason of disuse. Obstructing a highway is a public nuisance (See also obstruction), and misuse of the public right to pass and repass over a highway is a trespass against the owner of the subsoil of the highway.

hijacking

n.

Seizing or exercising control of an aircraft in flight by the use or threat of force (the term derives from the call "Hi Jack," used when illegal alcohol was seized from bootleggers during Prohibition in the United States). Hijacking is prohibited in international law by the Tokyo Convention 1963, which defines the conditions under which jurisdiction may be assumed over hijackers, but does not oblige states to exercise such jurisdiction and does not create an obligation to extradite hijackers. There is also a Hague Convention of 1970 and a Montreal Convention of 1971 creating the offences of unlawfully seizing or exercising control of an aircraft by force or threats and of sabotaging aircraft; these conventions provide for compulsory jurisdiction as well as extradition. In English law, hijacking and similar offences are governed by the Hijacking Act 1971, the Protection of Aircraft Act 1973, and the Aviation Security Act 1982.

hire

1. v. To enter into a contract for the temporary use of another's goods, or the temporary provision of his services or labour, in return for payment. In the case of goods, the person hiring them is a bailee (See bailment).

2. n. a. The act of hiring. b. The payment made under a contract of hire.

hire purchase

A method of buying goods in which the purchaser takes possession of them as soon as he has paid an initial instalment of the price (a deposit) and obtains ownership of the goods when he has paid all the agreed number of subsequent instalments and exercises his option to purchase the goods. A hire-purchase agreement differs from a *credit sale agreement and a sale-by-instalments contract because in these transactions ownership passes when the contract is signed. It also differs from a contract of *hire, because in this case ownership never passes. Hire-purchase agreements were formerly controlled by government regulations that stipulated the minimum deposit and the length of the repayment period. These controls were removed in July 1982. Hire-purchase agreements were also formerly controlled by the Hire Purchase Act 1965, but most are now regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In this Act a hire-purchase agreement is regarded as one in which goods are bailed in return for periodical payments by the bailee; ownership passes to the bailee if he complies with the terms of the agreement and exercises his option to purchase.

A hire-purchase agreement often involves a finance company as a third party. The seller of the goods sells them outright to the finance company, which enters into a hire-purchase agreement with the hirer. In this situation there is generally no direct contractual relationship between the seller and the buyer.

historic buildings

See building preservation notice; listed building.

HM Procurator General

See treasury solicitor.

HMSO

See Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

holder

n.

The person in possession of a *bill of exchange or promissory note. He may be the payee, the endorsee, or the bearer. A holder may sue on the bill in his own name. When value (which includes a past debt or liability) has at any time been given for a bill, the holder is a holder for value, as regards the acceptor and all who were parties to the bill before value was given. A holder in due course is one who has taken a bill of exchange in good faith and for value, before it was overdue, and without notice of previous dishonour or of any defect in the title of the person who negotiated or transferred the bill. He holds the bill free from any defect of title of prior parties and may enforce payment against all parties liable on the bill.

holding company

See subsidiary company.

holding out

Conduct by one person that leads another to believe that he has an authority that does not in fact exist. By the doctrine of *estoppel, the first person may be prevented from denying that the authority exists. For example, a person who wrongly represents himself as being a partner in a firm will be as liable as if he were in fact a partner to anyone who gives credit to the firm on the faith of the representation.

holding over

The action of a tenant continuing in occupation of premises after his lease has expired. If this is without the landlord's consent, the landlord may claim damages from the tenant. If, however, a landlord accepts rent from a tenant who is holding over, a new tenancy is created.

holograph

n.

A document written completely by the hand of its author; for example, a will in the testator's own handwriting.

homeless person

Under the Housing Act 1996, one who has no living accommodation that he is entitled to occupy, or is unlawfully excluded from his own living accommodation, or whose accommodation is mobile and cannot be placed in a location where he is permitted to reside in it. Certain homeless people (e.g. the elderly or infirm or those with dependent children) have a statutory right to permanent local-authority accommodation or, if they became homeless intentionally, to temporary accommodation.

home-loss payment

Additional compensation paid under the Land Compensation Act 1973 to a person on the compulsory acquisition of his property if he has occupied it as his principal residence throughout the preceding five years.

Home Secretary

The minister in charge of the Home Office, who is responsible throughout England and Wales for law and order generally (including matters concerning the police and the prison and security services) and for a variety of other domestic matters, such as nationality, immigration, race relations, extradition, and deportation. He also advises the sovereign on the exercise of the *prerogative of mercy.

homicide

n.

The act of killing a human being.

Unlawful homicide, which constitutes the crime of *murder, *manslaughter, or *infanticide, can only be committed if the victim is an independent human being (See abortion), the act itself causes the death (See causation), and the victim dies within a year after the act alleged to have caused the death. A British citizen may be tried for homicide committed anywhere in the world.

Lawful homicide occurs when somebody uses reasonable force in preventing crime or arresting an offender, in self-defence or defence of others, or (possibly) in defence of his property, and causes death as a result.

See also excusable homicide.

homosexual conduct

Sexual behaviour between persons of the same sex. The acts of *buggery and *gross indecency are not crimes if the act is committed in private and both parties are over the age of 16 and consent to the act. Lesbianism is not a criminal act.

honorarium

n.

A payment or reward made to a person for services rendered by him voluntarily.

honour clause

An express statement in a *contract that an agreement is intended to be binding in honour only. The courts will usually allow it to take effect and so will not enforce the agreement.

horizontal agreements

Agreements between companies at the same level of trade; for example, agreements between two or more manufacturers or wholesalers, rather than between a manufacturer and a distributor (Compare vertical agreements). Horizontal agreements that restrict competition may infringe the competition provisions of *Article 81 of the Treaty of Rome and the Chapter I prohibition in the Competition Act 1998. Most *cartels are horizontal agreements.

hospital order

An order of the Crown Court or a magistrates' court authorizing the detention in a specified hospital (for a period of 12 months, renewable by the hospital managers) of a convicted person suffering from *mental disorder. Unless a *restriction order has also been made, discharge while an order is in force may be authorized by the managers or the doctor in charge or directed by a *Mental Health Review Tribunal.

hostage

n.

A person who is held as a security. Under the Taking of Hostages Act 1982, it is an offence, punishable in the English courts by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, to take anyone as a hostage against his will anywhere in the world and to threaten to kill, injure, or continue to hold him hostage in order to force a state, international governmental organization, or person to do or not to do something. This is an extraditable offence, but prosecutions may only be brought with the consent of the Attorney General.

See also hijacking; kidnapping; terrorism.

hostile witness

An *adverse witness who wilfully refuses to testify truthfully on behalf of the party who called him. A hostile witness may, with the permission of the court, be cross-examined by that party, for example by putting to him a *previous statement that is inconsistent with his present testimony.

hotchpot

n.

The bringing into account, on distribution of an intestate's estate, of certain benefits separately conferred on the beneficiaries. In the case of total intestacy, the Administration of Estates Act 1925 expressly brings the *rule against double portions into operation. It provides that property given by the intestate during his lifetime to any of his children must be brought into account, unless a contrary intention is expressed or appears from the circumstances. Thus if A gives £10,000 to his son B, and dies intestate leaving an estate worth £50,000 to which his children Band C are entitled equally, B will in fact receive £20,000 and C £30,000. The rule applies only to lifetime gifts made by way of advancement (i.e. as permanent provision and not for maintenance or temporary purposes). In the case of partial intestacy, benefits conferred by the will on a surviving spouse and on the deceased's issue (i.e. his children, grandchildren, and remoter direct descendants) are also brought into account.

hot pursuit, right of

right of hot pursuit

The right of a coastal state to pursue a foreign ship within its *territorial waters (or possibly its contiguous zone) and there capture it if the state has good reason to believe that this vessel has violated its laws. The hot pursuit may - but only if it is uninterrupted - continue onto the *high seas, but it must terminate the moment the pursued ship enters the territorial waters of another state, as such pursuit would involve an offence to the other state; in these circumstances *extradition should be employed instead.

house bote

See estovers.

housebreaking

n.

Forcing one's way into someone else's house. If this is carried out with the intention of committing certain specified crimes in the house, or if, after breaking into a house, certain crimes then take place, the housebreaking amounts to *burglary. It is also a statutory offence, which is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment, if a person has with him any article that he intends to use in connection with burglary, theft, or criminal deception. In addition to the usual housebreaking implements, this includes such things as rubber gloves to conceal fingerprints.

House of Commons

The representative chamber of *Parliament (also known as the Lower House), composed of 659 Members of Parliament (MPs) elected for 529 single-member constituencies in England, 72 in Scotland, 40 in Wales, and 18 in Northern Ireland (See election; franchise). The total number of MPs may within certain limits be varied as a result of constituency changes proposed by the *boundary commissions.

A number of people are disqualified from membership. They include those under 21, civil servants, the police and the regular armed forces, most clergy (but not Nonconformist ministers), aliens, those declared bankrupt, convicted prisoners and people guilty of corrupt or illegal practices, the holders of most judicial offices (but not lay magistrates), and the holders of a large number of public offices listed in the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975. Public offices that disqualify include stewardship of the *Chiltern Hundreds and the Manor of Northstead. The number of members who may hold ministerial office is limited to 95. The House of Lords Act 1999 removed an earlier disqualification on hereditary peers from voting and from being elected members of the House of Commons. The Removal of Clergy Disqualification Bill, when enacted, will permit all clergy to be MPs.

The House is presided over by the Speaker, who is elected from among themselves by the members at the beginning of each Parliament. The Speaker is responsible for the orderly conduct of proceedings, which must be supervised with complete impartiality, and is the person through whom the members may collectively communicate with the sovereign. The Leader of the House is a government minister responsible for arranging the business of the House in consultation with the Opposition.

House of Commons Commission

A body established in 1978 to supervise the staffing of the House. It consists of the Speaker, the Leader of the House, and four other members, one of whom is appointed by the Leader of the Opposition.

House of Lords

The second chamber of *Parliament (also known as the Upper House), which scrutinizes legislation and has judicial functions. The House of Lords Act 1999 substantially changed the constitution of the House by excluding hereditary peers from a place in the House as of right, although for a transitional period 92 were allowed to remain on merit. Of these, 75 were elected by their own political party or by cross-bench (usually non-party-political) groups. A further 15 hereditary peers were elected to act as Deputy Speakers or Committee chairmen. Two hereditary royal appointments were also retained: the Earl Marshal and the

Lord Great Chamberlain. The other members of the Lords are (as at July 2001) life peers (592) or bishops (26), comprising the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, Durham, and Winchester, and 21 other Anglican bishops selected according to seniority of appointment. Long-term reform of the Lords is currently being debated; a white paper published in November 2001 proposed the following composition of the Lords: 120 members to be elected by the public, 120 non-party-political members to be selected by the *House of Lords Appointments Commission, up to 332 members to be nominated by party leaders, and 16 bishops.

The House is presided over by the *Lord Chancellor and its business is arranged, in consultation with the Opposition, by a government minister appointed Leader of the House. The Lords is the final court of appeal in the UK in both civil and criminal cases, although it refers some cases to the *European Court of Justice for a ruling. In its judicial capacity the Lords formally adopts opinions delivered by an Appellate Committee (of which there are two), and it is a constitutional convention that the only peers who may participate in the proceedings of the committee are the Lord Chancellor, the *Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, and others who have held high judicial office.

House of Lords Appointments Commission

A body that recommends people for appointment as non-party-political life peers and vets all nominations for membership of the House of Lords. Set up by the Government following the House of Lords Act 1999, which modernizes the Lords, the Commission is an independent nondepartmental public body staffed by civil servants.

housing action area

An area declared to be such by a housing authority on the grounds that living conditions in it are unsatisfactory and should be dealt with comprehensively over a five-year period. This is done by special measures to improve the standards and management of accommodation and the well-being of the inhabitants. A housing action area may incorporate a *general improvement area.

See also priority neighbourhood.

Compare clearance area.

housing action trust

(HAT)

A statutory trust set up for a particular area with the objects to secure: the repair and improvement of housing in the area; its proper and effective management; greater diversity of kinds of tenure of the housing; and the improvement of social and living conditions in the area generally. In their areas, housing action trusts can be given power to exercise most of the functions of a housing authority and the planning control and public-health functions of local authorities. Local authority housing can be transferred to a housing action trust by government order if a majority of the tenants agree. A housing action trust must achieve its objects as quickly as possible and is then dissolved and its property disposed of. Housing action trusts were introduced by the Housing Act 1988.

housing association

A non-profit-making organization whose main purpose is to provide housing. A *fully mutual housing association is excepted from the *assured tenancy provisions. The *Housing Corporation can make grants to housing associations registered by them.

housing association tenancy

A tenancy in which the landlord is a housing association, a housing trust, or the Housing Corporation. The Housing Act 1996 gave certain housing association tenants a right to buy their homes, and they may be able to obtain a grant towards the purchase price.

housing benefit

A benefit payable by local authorities to those with no or very low incomes who pay rent for their housing. There are two types: *rent rebates, paid to the local authority's own needy tenants, and rent allowances, paid to tenants other than their own (e.g. Housing Association tenants).

Housing Corporation

A body with functions under the Housing Associations Act 1985 and the Housing Act 1988. These include maintaining a register of *housing associations, promoting and assisting the development of - and making and guaranteeing loans to - registered housing associations and unregistered self-build societies (*self-build society), and providing dwellings for letting or sale.

Housing for Wales

A body set up under the Housing Act 1988, having the functions of the *Housing Corporation in respect to property and housing associations in Wales. It was abolished by the Government of Wales Act 1998, its functions being transferred to the Secretary of State pending transfer of powers to the Welsh Assembly (1999).

Housing Ombudsman

An official appointed, under the Housing Act 1996, to deal with complaints against registered social landlords (not including local authorities). The first Housing Ombudsman was appointed with effect from 1 April 1997; he is in charge of the *Independent Housing Ombudsman.

housing subsidy

An annual contribution from central government funds, payable under the Housing Act 1985, towards the provision of housing by local authorities and new town corporations.

housing trust

A trust set up to provide housing, or whose funds are devoted to charitable purposes and which in fact uses most of its funds for the provision of housing. If it is a *fully mutual housing association, it is exempted from the *assured tenancy provisions.

See also housing action trust.

human assisted reproduction

Techniques to bring about the conception and birth of a child other than by sexual intercourse between the parties. It includes artificial insemination by the husband (AIH) or by a donor (Dr), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and egg and embryo donation. Such methods mean it is no longer possible to base legal parentage solely on genetic links. Under terms of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 1990, the legal mother is the woman who has given birth to the child, regardless of genetic parentage, unless the child is subsequently adopted or a *section 30 order is made. However, the Act is not retrospective and the position of children conceived or born before the Act came into force has yet to be resolved. The legal father is generally the genetic father except when the latter is a donor whose sperm is used for licensed treatment under the 1990 Act, or when the donor's sperm is used after his death. If a wife conceives as a result of assisted reproduction. her husband may be regarded as the child's legal father, even If he is not the genetic father, as long as he consented to her treatment. However, this does not hold for all purposes. For example, in a recent case it was ruled that a peer's "son" born by donor insemination could not inherit his father's title when It was found after the peer's death that his wife had been impregnated by sperm from a third party (rather than from her husband) at the relevant clinic.

It is an offence to use female germ cells from an embryo or fetus, or to make use of embryos created from such germ cells, for the purpose of providing a fertility service. Such practice is already banned by the *Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority. The offence is triable only on *indictment and is punishable with up to ten years' imprisonment.

Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority

A body, established under the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 1990, that monitors, controls, and reviews research involving the use of embryos and issues licences for such research and for treatment in *human assisted reproduction. It must also maintain a register of persons whose gametes are kept or used for such purposes and of children born as a result. Children over the age of 18 can apply to the Authority for information concerning their ethnic and genetic background.

humanitarian intervention

The interference of one state in the affairs of another by means of armed force with the intention of making that state adopt a more humanitarian policy, usually the protection of human rights of minority groups. Despite debate, such intervention is not recognized as legal under the UN Charter. However, states continue to rely on humanitarian grounds as justification for military action; examples of humanitarian intervention include Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia (1978), the declaration by the USA, the UK, Russia, and France of an air exclusion zone in southern Iraq in an effort to protect the Shia Marsh Arabs (1992), and military actions to protect the Muslim population of Kosovo (1999).

human rights

Rights and freedom to which every human being is entitled. Protection against breaches of these rights committed by a state (including the state of which the victim is a national) may in some cases be enforced in international law. It is sometimes suggested that human rights (or some of them) are so fundamental that they form part of *natural law, but most of them are best regarded as forming part of treaty law.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) spells out most of the main rights that must be protected but it is not binding in international law. There are two international covenants, however, that bind the parties who have ratified them: the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The United Nations has set up a Commission on Human Rights, which has power to discuss gross violations of human rights but not to investigate individual complaints. The Human Rights Committee, set up in 1977, has power to hear complaints from individuals, under certain circumstances, about alleged breaches of the 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. There are also various regional conventions on human rights, some of which have established machinery for hearing individual complaints. The best known of these is the *European Convention on Human Rights (enacted in English law as the *Human Rights Act 1998) and the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights (covering South America).

Human Rights Act

Legislation, enacted in 1998, that brought the *European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law for the whole of the UK on 2 October 2000. In the past the use of the Convention was limited to cases where the law was ambiguous and public authorities had no duty to exercise administrative discretion in a manner that complied with the Convention.

The Act creates a statutory general requirement that all legislation (past or future) be read and given effect in a way that is compatible with the Convention. Section 3 provides that all legislation, primary and secondary, whenever enacted, must be read and given effect in a way that is compatible with Convention rights wherever possible.

The Act requires public authorities - including courts - to act compatibly with the Convention unless they are prevented from doing so by statute. This means that the courts have their own primary statutory duty to give effect to the Convention unless a statute positively prevents this. Section 7 gives the *victim of any act of a public authority that is incompatible with the Convention the power to challenge the authority in court using the Convention, to found a cause of action or as a defence. The Act introduces a new ground of illegality into proceedings brought by way of judicial review, namely, a failure to comply with the Convention rights protected by the Act, subject to a 'statutory obligation' defence. Secondly, it will create a new cause of action against public bodies that fail to act compatibly with the Convention. Thirdly, Convention rights will be available as a ground of defence or appeal in cases brought by public bodies against private bodies (in both criminal and civil cases). Section 7(5) imposes a limitation period of one year for those bringing proceedings.


Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1042


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