What will the rights bill do?
The Declaration of Human Rights will replace the Human Rights Act (HRA), which directly incorporated the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into British domestic law. The convention has been ratified by 46 member states (including the United Kingdom) of the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights organization. It was developed during World War II and came into force in 1953 to ensure that governments could not dehumanize and abuse the rights of individuals. The government says the rights bill will restore the British Parliament’s primacy in this area without leaving the ECHR.
What about the Human Rights Act?
The HRA has long been a problem for many Conservatives, including incumbent Justice Minister Dominic Raab, who claims to have led to a number of unjustifiably successful lawsuits. One of the most common complaints in media outlets is that it prevents the deportation of foreign criminals due to their dependence on the guaranteed right to family life, although reports on the issue and individual cases are often exaggerated.
Where does the European Court of Human Rights belong?
The International Court of Justice, established in 1959, rules on individual or state claims alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. Judgments against the government have often been badly received, most recently when a Strasbourg court issued an interim injunction preventing the forcible transfer of the first asylum seekers to Rwanda. The government says the rights declaration will make it clear that the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, including such interim measures, are not binding on the courts of the United Kingdom. Many lawyers argue that it is red herring. The Supreme Court website states that British courts should “consider” the Strasbourg court, but may refuse to follow them.
What else will the rights bill do?
Other benefits proposed by the government include facilitating the deportation of foreign criminals by reducing the conditions under which their right to family life would go beyond public safety and the need to remove them. The bill will also introduce a licensing stage for human rights claims, ensure that courts take into account the plaintiff’s conduct when awarding compensation, and enhance press freedom in two ways. The first concerns the promotion of the right to freedom of expression over the right to privacy, as the latter has increasingly curtailed reference in recent years. The second is by introducing a stronger test that courts must consider before they can order journalists to reveal their sources.
What do the critics say?
The campaigns say it is the first rights bill that will really reduce people’s rights and is an ideological attack on human rights that will disproportionately harm the most marginalized in society. They point out that the HRA has been used by the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, the victims of serial sexual assailant John Worboys, army veterans and people with disabilities to enforce their rights and do justice. They also say that the abolition of the HRA runs the risk of violating the peace agreement in Northern Ireland as the integration of the ECHR, achieved through the HRA, was an explicit commitment to the Good Friday agreement.
