As Gordon and Ward argue, the Human Rights Act looks set to usher in an era of legal revolution. Just like the early days of EU membership, it is much easier to see that there is change ahead than to see what that change will be. Those who think that predictability is one of the virtues of a just legal system seem to be in the minority. On its face the act applies only to the actions of public authorities, including the courts. It adds that any person, some of whose functions are of a public nature, is to be considered a public authority when exercising such functions.
Private individuals are, apparently, free to do as they wish.
After that, the act might add, you are on your own. Naturally it took no time for the argument to surface that if the courts are a public authority, and therefore have to act in accordance with the convention, this means that when they are resolving a dispute between two private individuals they must apply the convention. It seems private individuals are subject to the act after all. These are issues which will be resolved at private expense in the courts. There is also the problem of identifying what is a public authority.