PM Rishi Sunak told to ditch plans to overhaul human rights laws
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being urged not to go through with the government’s controversial attempt to overhaul human rights legislation after a warning that the bill of rights appears to “tip the balance” in favour of the state and damages people’s ability to enforce their rights.
A cross-party committee of MPs and peers said the bill, which would replace the Human Rights Act, showed a “disregard” for the UK’s international legal obligations and would lead to more cases going to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg.
Ministers claim the bill is intended to curb the abuses of the current system, but the parliamentary joint committee on human rights say it’ll create new barriers.
“The government should not proceed with this bill,” the committee said. “It weakens rights protections, it undermines the universality of rights, it shows disregard for our international legal obligations; it creates legal uncertainty and hinders effective enforcement; it will lead to an increased caseload in Strasbourg; and will damage our international reputation as guardians of human rights.”
The Bill of Rights was introduced under Boris Johnson by the then deputy PM Dominic Raab, then dropped by Liz Truss along with the sacking of Raab, before being reintroduced when Sunak became PM and reappointed Raab to the cabinet.
Committee expresses concern over bill
The committee has said there appears to be little wider support for the proposed changes. Many are raising objections including the victims of violence against women and care home residents.
It expressed concern the bill would require courts to ignore safeguards that protect people in “urgent situations” when there is a credible risk to life or of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment.
It would also impact the requirement on public bodies to take action to protect rights, such as conducting effective investigations into the loss of life.
The committee chair, Joanna Cherry, said the bill “removes and restricts certain human rights protections that the government finds inconvenient and prescribes a restrictive approach to the interpretation and application of the European convention on human rights in the courts of our domestic legal systems”.
If the bill is introduced in its current form it will create “more barriers to enforcing human rights, more cases taken to Strasbourg and more adverse judgments against the UK”, she said.
A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: “The bill of rights builds on the UK’s proud tradition of liberty by strengthening freedom of speech, re-injecting a healthy dose of common sense to the system and ending abuse of our laws.”
