Lord Chancellor’s Statement on the Human Rights Act.

On the 14 December 2021 the Lord Chancellor came to the House to set out his plans to overhaul the Human Rights Act and replace it with a Bill of Rights. The Lord Chancellor said that the European Convention on Human Rights would not be discarded. It cannot be as the UK have obligations under international law and international treaties. Moreover all the Human Rights Act did was to incorporate in UK law the European Convention. 

My question to the Lord Chancellor was:  “It is the Justice Secretary who is contradictory, is it not? All the convention did was to be enacted in the Human Rights Act, so he cannot say he is keeping the convention and taking away the Human Rights Act. We are talking about evidence, not opinion. Will he publish a list of cases where British judges have not applied British law and have been hamstrung by European Law?”

The Human Rights Act is an important piece of legislation to protect our rights and I will oppose any watering down or removal of Human Rights Legislation.