Raphael Hogarth

It’s time to drop the British Bill of Rights for good

The Government plans to scrap plans to scrap plans to scrap the Human Rights Act. Here we go again. Following snugly in the footsteps of her two predecessors as Lord Chancellor, Liz Truss has promised to implement the so-called ‘British Bill of Rights’ in its place. There were never good reasons for this policy, but at one stage there were at least some bad reasons. Now, even they have run out.

The European Convention on Human Rights affirms the rights to life, a fair trial and freedom of expression, among others. Until 1998, a Brit who thought their human rights had been violated needed to exhaust all their legal options at home before fighting to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. On average, that took five years and cost £30,000. If the applicant won in Strasbourg, the British Government was bound by international law to rectify its violation. Strasbourg’s rulings could not, however, change UK law.

Tony Blair thought the system dysfunctional. So his government passed a Human Rights Act which incorporated convention rights into UK law. That meant Brits could defend their rights in our own courts; giving them better access to justice and allowing British judges to take the reins in shaping human rights precedent. This was as sensible as it sounds. So why has the Conservative party invested so much time and energy in working up a repeal?

In truth, it has been politically profitable to malign the HRA for those pandering to the Conservative right. Once upon a time, during the EU renegotiation, David Cameron was desperately trying to convince people he might opt for ‘Leave’ if he didn’t get the deal he was after.

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