Emily Logan, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, and members of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission recently appeared before the Good Friday Agreement Committee to discuss the ramifications of the UK Government’s proposed repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998.
The proposal – as set out in the election manifesto of the recently elected Conservative Government – would replace the 1998 Act with the British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, and would result in noticeable changes to the structural legal framework, as well as individual protections currently available in the UK.
As a cornerstone of the Belfast Agreement, the 1998 Act provides that decisions taken by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) are directly applicable in UK courts. The Conservative party’s proposals would break the formal link between the British Courts and ECtHR whereby the rulings of the ECtHR will not be binding over the UK. Similarly, previous case law from the European Court would be deemed as merely advisory by the judiciary, human rights law would be limited in its use to only the most serious of cases and within the reach of the UK. During the Queen’s speech in May of this year the changes were announced to “...restore a common sense to the application of human rights laws”.
Addressing the Committee Emily Logan stated; “as members of the Committee will be aware, human rights protections were a core feature, not an ‘add on’, of the Peace Process and the negotiations around the Agreement.”
Les Allamby, Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Committee, felt that “attempts to dilute the role of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence, runs counter to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.”
Click here to read the joint statement from IHREC and NIHRC.
Click here to read a recent PILA Bulletin article on the proposed new UK Human Rights Act.