The UK Conservative Party is proposing major reforms to the UK human rights landscape as part of their general election manifesto. Announced by Prime Minister David Cameron at the Conservative Party conference last week, a Tory majority in the 2015 general election would see these proposals come to fruition.
The changes follow a lengthy debate in the UK over the role of the European Court of Human Rights and the ability of the Court to declare UK laws incompatible with international law. The current government views Parliament as having the final say in any decision on national laws, and has treated the powers of the Strasbourg court as a threat to sovereignty. The proposals appear to have two primary aspects; first, the introduction of a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, and second, the dilution of the ability of the Strasbourg Court to oblige changes to national laws.
The first step in the reforms is to draft a new British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities before Christmas. The statement insists that the Bill of Rights will ‘restore common sense to the application of human rights in the UK’. The Bill will ‘remain faithful to the basic principles’ of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), however there is currently no real indicator as to the content of the Bill and some established rights have been identified as problematic to public policy. The proposals do not directly intend to withdraw the UK from the ECHR; however, they do intend to break the link between the British and Strasbourg courts. The proposals view the Strasbourg Court as an ‘advisory body’. The UK Supreme Court will be seen as the ‘ultimate arbiter’ of human rights and will not be obliged to consider the jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court. Application of human rights laws would only be available in the most serious of cases; applicants taking ‘trivial cases’ will not be able to rely on human rights arguments.
The Council of Europe (CoE) issued a very brief initial statement on the proposed reforms. It noted that ‘as they stand, the proposals are not consistent with the ECHR’. Additionally, although the European Union is separate from the Council of Europe, non-membership of the CoE may jeopardise the UK’s EU membership. The EU as an institution is in the process of accession to the ECHR, and is aiming to harmonise the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice with that of the Strasbourg Court. The strategy paper says that Britain’s EU membership will also be up for renegotiation in the next parliament and that human rights disagreements would be addressed. The proposed reforms also risk breaching the conditions of the Good Friday Agreement. The UK’s Human Rights Act 1998 and Ireland’s European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 were the respective ECHR ratification instruments required as terms of the Good Friday Agreement, designed to provide protection to the communities in Northern Ireland which would go beyond oversight by national public bodies.
Nick Clegg has stated that the Liberal Democrats will not rejoin the Conservative party for a second coalition unless they soften their stance on human rights and social welfare cuts. The shadow justice secretary for Labour has said that Labour would stand by the Human Rights Act and extend human rights in the UK. Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who was dismissed for his supportive stance on the ECHR, has warned that the plans ‘are unworkable and will damage the UK’s international reputation’. Former justice secretary Kenneth Clarke commented: ‘For the good of our society I don’t think that the executive of the day should be exempt from having to comply with judgments. Sooner or later, if we allow our standards to slip, some arbitrary decision will take place.’
Click here to read the full 8-page strategy paper.
Click here to read the text of the press release from the party.
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