Ministers plan to overhaul the Human Rights Act so British judges can overrule European counterparts, the Government revealed today.
In what will be seen as the latest Tory attack on international law, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab outlined how he wants a shake-up to work - with the UK Supreme Court having the final say rather than the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Mr Raab claimed it was “wrong” that judges in the city ruled on matters relating to British soldiers fighting overseas, stressing he was studying how to wind in the court’s influence in the UK.
“I don’t think it’s the job of the European Court in Strasburg to be dictating things to, whether it’s the NHS, whether it’s our welfare provision, or whether it’s our police forces,” Mr Raab, who is also Lord Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister, told the Sunday Telegraph.
“We want the Supreme Court to have a last word on interpreting the laws of the land, not the Strasbourg court.”
Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Wera Hobhouse said: “This move to weaken people’s opportunity to challenge this Government - or any future government - because sometimes the courts rule against them, weakens our democracy to the core.
“Governments make mistakes and to be able to hold them to account as a citizen is fundamental.”
The European Convention on Human Rights, which is overseen by the Strasbourg court, was incorporated into British law by Labour in the 1998 Human Rights Act.
The switch proposed by Mr Raab, versions of which have been unveiled by top Tories repeatedly since 2010, is unrelated to the European Court of Justice and Brexit.
