We have previously written about the proposed Bill of Rights, which was championed by Dominic Raab and was intended to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), see our previous blog here.
The HRA is a statute that brought into effect European law relating to Human Rights protections, such as the right to a fair trial, the right to freedom of expression, and the right to private and family life. Given the UK’s departure from the European Union, it is understandable that the UK Government would want to review any legislation incorporating European laws into the UK legislature. That being said, it is difficult to see what problem the fundamental human rights set out in the HRA presents to the UK Government and further why such rights need to be changed.
There can be no doubt that the proposed Bill of Rights is controversial. In this regard, the Equality and Human Rights Commission made a statement in January 2023 as follows:
“The Human Rights Act has substantially improved human rights and access to justice for people in the UK. We are deeply concerned about the impact that the Bill of Rights would have on these protections.
Pending a date being set for the Bill’s second reading, we have given evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights highlighting a number of concerns.
We have serious concerns that the Bill, if passed without amendments, would:
- weaken the protection of human rights in the UK
- reduce access to redress for breaches of human rights
- have unwelcome implications in relation to balancing rights in the context of freedom of expression
- have constitutional implications, including for the Union and devolution
It is vital that the government upholds the fundamental principles of the human rights framework that protects us all, in particular the universality of human rights, and we will continue to engage with the UK government to strengthen equality and human rights across Britain.”
Following Dominic Raab’s resignation as Deputy Prime Minister, the future of his Bill of Rights is now in question. A number of leading newspapers, such as the Times and the Mail Online, have reported that the Government is now taking stock as to what to do with the proposed Bill of Rights but that they have been informed by Government sources that the most likely outcome is that the proposed Bill of Rights will be scrapped.
Comment
Accordingly, for now (and it appears potentially in the foreseeable future), the HRA shall remain in force. Given that the HRA pervades all decisions made by the Courts in the UK, the certainty that the HRA remaining as part of the UK legislature will definitely be welcomed by most lawyers.
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Kevin Modiri is a Partner in our expert Dispute Resolution team.
If you have any questions concerning the subjects discussed in this article, please do not hesitate to contact Kevin or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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