Tony Hatfield's Retired Ramblings

Repealing the Human Rights Act- the stuff and nonsense

In both today's Daily Telegraph piece and in the interview in the Today Programme Michael Howard cannot resist jumping in the Sun's anti Human Rights band wagon. He reaffirmed Tory calls for the Human Rights Act to be amended " and if neccesary repealed". There is no reason why the Act cannot be amended or repealed. A sovereign parliament cannot bind its successor. But Howard fails to grasp that behind the Human Rights Act is the European Convention on Human Rights. The United Kingdom has ratified the Convention and its Protocols. Together, these allow citizens to seek remedies for convention breaches from the Strasbourg court. The Convention requires the United Kingdom complies with any judgement of the court. The only method of escaping from the convention's provisions is by pulling out all together.Telling the Council of Europe we no longer wish to be bound. But there's a problem with that. Members of the European Union MUST signatories to the Convention!

posted by Tony @ Wednesday, August 10, 2005