ECHR “must evolve” to restore public confidence in rule of law, says Lord Chancellor
The European Convention of Human Rights “must evolve” to restore public confidence in the rule of law, the Lord Chancellor told European ambassadors in a speech today (Wednesday 18 June).
Speaking to the Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg, the Lord Chancellor said that while the UK is resolutely committed to the ECHR, the trust of the public is beginning to erode as the application of rights “feels out of step with common sense.”
Making her argument for reform, she said that “the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law – once widely assumed – now face distortion, doubt, even hostility.”
Speaking at the meeting, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Shabana Mahmood, said:
Across Europe, public confidence in the rule of law is fraying.
There is a growing perception – sometimes mistaken, sometimes grounded in reality – that human rights are no longer a shield for the vulnerable, but a tool for criminals to avoid responsibility. That the law too often protects those who break the rules, rather than those who follow them.
This tension is not new. The Convention was written to protect individuals from the arbitrary power of the state. But in today’s world, the threats to justice and liberty are more complex. They can come from technology, transnational crime, uncontrolled migration, or legal systems that drift away from public consent.
This comes as the Government commits to legislation to clarify the law around Article 8, the right to private and family life, which many foreign offenders have exploited in order to avoid deportation. In her speech, the Lord Chancellor said that “if a foreign national commits a serious crime, they should expect to be removed from the country.”
While this Government has ramped up removals of foreign national offenders with more than 4,400 removed since the election – up 14% compared to the same period 12 months ago – further action is being taken forward to increase removals even further.
The Lord Chancellor went on to highlight the changes being made in the UK to tackle immigration – including tightening the application of Article 8 to give courts the clarity they need so our immigration rules are no longer abused. This is particularly important as the Government introduces sentencing reforms to tackle a prison system at breaking point.
The Lord Chancellor set out that:
In the UK, we are restoring the balance we pledged at the birth of our Convention: liberty with responsibility, individual rights with the public interest. There must be consequences for breaking the rules.
Which is why we are clarifying how Convention rights – particularly Article 8 – operate in relation to immigration rules. The right to family life is fundamental. But it has too often been used in ways that frustrate deportation, even where there are serious concerns about credibility, fairness, and risk to the public.
We’re bringing clarity back to the distinction between what the law protects and what policy permits. Prisoners claiming a right to socialise – under Article 8 – is not just a legal stretch. It damages the public perception of human rights altogether.
Legislation brought forward by the Home Office will strengthen the public interest test to make it clear that Parliament needs to be able to control the country’s borders and make decisions over who comes to, and stays in the UK, striking the right balance between individual family rights and the wider public interest.
It will clarify Article 8 rules and set out how they should apply in different immigration routes so that fewer cases are treated as “exceptional”.
She went on to say that:
These are the reforms we are pursuing at home. The question for all of us now is whether the Convention system, as it stands, has the tools to resolve these tensions in a way that keeps the public with us.
As I have said, our Convention has evolved before, through new protocols, new rights, and new interpretations. Always to reflect changing times, while staying true to its purpose.
However, reform of the ECHR must be “a shared political endeavour among us as member States”, the Lord Chancellor told the Council of Europe.
The Lord Chancellor concluded by saying:
The European Convention on Human Rights is one of the great achievements of post-war politics. It has endured because it has evolved. Now, it must do so again.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The full speech can be found here.