Tory plan to quit human rights court after election in wake of ban on life sentences
By James Chapman for the Daily Mail
7
View
comments
Unhappy: David Cameron believes the European Court of Human Rights is increasingly acting as a court of appeal against rulings that should be left to sovereign governments, a source claimed
Britain could leave the European Court of Human Rights if the Conservatives win the next election.
Senior Tories are set to propose the radical plan after a series of controversial interventions from the Strasbourg court.
David Cameron believes it is increasingly acting as a court of appeal against rulings that should be left to sovereign governments, a source claimed.
Liberal Democrats are blocking an immediate exit, but plans for a withdrawal in the case of a Tory majority in 2015 could be published before next May’s European Parliament elections.
This would leave British judges free to interpret the law without interference – and see final appeals heard in the UK Supreme Court, not the ECHR.
This week, the European court prompted fury by ruling that whole-life jail terms with no possibility of review for murderers such as Jeremy Bamber amount to inhuman and degrading treatment.
An earlier ruling, calling for Britain to give prisoners the vote, has been rejected by MPs.
Home Secretary Theresa May has also blamed the ECHR for the delay in deporting hate preacher Abu Qatada.
The ECHR’s backlog of 160,000 cases mean that an appeal against a British deportation judgment can delay someone’s removal by two years.
Share this article
Ministers say the ECHR has dangerously overreached its founding aim of protecting basic human rights abuses.
Former Tory chairman Lord Tebbit added: ‘There is only one way forward. First [Justice Secretary Chris] Grayling should tell the ECHR that the UK will ignore it.
Plans: The Tories could leave the European Court of Human Rights if they win the next election
New rules: Jailed murderers such as Jeremy Bamber having no right to a review of their sentence is inhuman, says the ECHR
‘Then he should set out to repeal [the] Human Rights Act, then to renounce our membership of the European Convention.
‘That might precipitate a crisis over our membership of the European Union.
‘Well, “ca va”, as they say. It might save us a lot of trouble.’
Blame: Home Secretary Theresa May, left, has claimed that the ECHR was to blame for the delay in deporting Abu Hamza, right
Source: Read Full Article