... procedure. Although the courts did not have the power to enforce convention rights prior to the act the courts were permitted to use the convention as an "interpretative tool". There were three most important provisions in the convention even then. They are an aid to the construction of legislation in cases of ambiguity, to inform exercise of judicial discretion and being able to establish the scope of common law. The UK was the only country that had not got a Bill of Rights as such and the only country that had not corporate the European Convention, which made cases ambiguous. The courts were finding it difficult in answering questions as the public were becoming more aware of human rights; such an example is in Malone v Metropolitan Police Commissioner [1979]2. Prior to the Human Rights act, the use of the convention was limited to cases where the law was ambiguous. Such ...

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