Raab’s human rights revamp ‘a threat to Brexit trade deal’
BRITISH plans to curb the influence of the European Court of Human Rights could lead to Brussels tearing up the Brexit trade deal, the EU has warned.
“We will be watching this very carefully,” an EU official said. “It could have a major impact on the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.”
Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, said that he wanted ministers to have the power to “correct” judgments from the Strasbourg court by introducing ad hoc legislation.
The European Court of Human Rights is not an EU body. Its convention is put into national law by the Human Rights Act, which Mr Raab, the former Brexit negotiator, wants to reform.
Under the Brexit trade deal and a new extradition treaty with the UK, the EU secured commitments that the body would be respected. Those obligations could tie Mr Raab’s hands, or further strain relations with Brussels, as he tries to ensure that the UK Supreme Court has the last word on cases such as accusations of abuse against British soldiers fighting abroad.
While David Mcallister, chairman of the UK Coordination Group of the European Parliament, warned that the parliament “considers the European Convention on Human Rights an integral and indispensable part of the democratic foundations of Europe”, UK officials insisted that the new legislation will not compromise the UK’S commitment to the ECHR or its court.
The EU-UK free trade deal has a chapter on cooperation on criminal matters, which includes a post-brexit extradition treaty to replace the European Arrest Warrant.
Bart Van Vooren, of Covington & Burling, a law firm, said: “Law enforcement and judicial cooperation in criminal matters will automatically cease to apply if the UK denounces the ECHR. If the EU considers that the UK has seriously and substantially failed to respect human rights, it can terminate or suspend the operation of the EU-UK free trade agreement.”
Steve Peers, professor of EU law at the University of Essex, said: “If the UK chips away at the Human Rights Act it is possible that the EU, or courts in the EU, might consider suspending at least some of that cooperation.”
Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said: “The ECHR is not a sweet shop. Politicians of the day cannot just pick and choose the rights they like.”
The UK has also called for the European Court of Justice, an EU court, to be stripped of its role in Northern Ireland in ongoing talks over the Brexit treaty.