The President of the UK Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, has given his take on Britain’s relationship with both the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). In a speech examining resentment of continental interference, the President explored the historical reasons that Britain harbours resentment for European rule.
He said that "the idea of courts overruling decisions of the UK parliament, as is substantially the effect of what the Strasbourg court and the Luxembourg court [the European court of Justice] can do, is little short of offensive to our notions of constitutional propriety".
His reasoning for this was that Britain was the only part of Europe not to have experienced foreign occupation for the last 950 years. In addition, he said that the different legal and constitutional systems meant that British people find the idea of unelected judges overruling governments completely unacceptable.
Most other countries accept that there are times “when it is a good thing for the rule of law that independent judges, who do not need to court short-term popularity or worry about re-election, should be able to act as a control on what would otherwise be an unbridled legislature."
Neuberger in his speech drew a comparison between those who wished to stay in Europe and those who wanted to leave. Those who wished to stay “argue that the seismic shifts in the world political order, and in the mobility of ideas, individuals, information, and assets, require much greater engagement with Europe". He said those who wished to leave argue that "we were perfectly well able to draw from European culture without being part of a European polity".
As a closing remark, Neuberger stated that “while judges should not normally take public positions in political debated different considerations applied if those debates relate to the legal system or the rule of law … By the same token, it is part of our function to explain the legal implications of any important issues being publicly debated."
Click here to read the article in the Guardian about the speech.
Click here to read Lord Neuberger's speech.