SQE1 sample questions

Question 56

A government department has recently been created to tackle the rising terrorist threat in the UK. The civil servants working within the new department (‘the Staff') are involved in the handling of secret material relevant to national security, and have been selected from existing civil service employees. All the Staff brought into the new department were existing members of the largest national civil service trade union (‘the Union’).

Six months into their new posts, after an escalation in industrial action by some civil service trade unions, the Staff are told that they have been banned from being members of the Union with immediate effect. No consultation with either the Staff or the Union has taken place. The Union did not participate in the recent industrial action. The Staff wish to bring a claim under the Human Rights Act 1998, alleging that their Article 11 rights to freedom of assembly and association, as enshrined within the European Convention on Human Rights, have been infringed.

Which of the following statements represents the best advice to the Staff about the protection offered by Article 11?

A. Article 11 rights are qualified rights whose exercise may be subject to restrictions which are imposed in the interests of national security.

B. Article 11 rights are limited rights whose exercise may be subject to restrictions which are imposed in the interests of the social and economic well-being of the country.

C. Article 11 rights are absolute in respect of the right of the individual to form and join trade unions for the protection of their own interests.

D. Article 11 rights are qualified rights and consultation is a necessary condition for any restriction on the right to form and join trade unions to be deemed proportionate.

E. Article 11 rights are limited rights and are not subject to restriction when exercised by the armed forces, the police or the administration of the state.