England: New Justice Secretary pushes to axe Human Rights Act

New Justice Secretary Michael Govewill press ahead with plans to scrap the Human Rights Act 1998, which enshrines the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in domestic law.

The Conservatives pledged before the election to scrap the legislation and introduce a “British Bill of Rights” to replace it.

This will be one of its first priorities of the new government, expected to be included in the Queen’s Speech on 27 May.

The party’s manifesto promised its government would “curtail the role of the European court of human rights”.

The Conservatives made a similar pledge to scrap the Human Rights Act in their 2010 manifesto, but the move was blocked by the Liberal Democrats as a result of the coalition agreement.

Former justice secretary Chris Grayling has said the UK could withdraw from the ECHR entirely if the Council of Europe does not accede to its proposals for a bill of rights.

Any withdrawal from the ECHR is likely to be complicated by resistance from the UK’s devolved administrations, especially as a commitment to incorporating the ECHR into Northern Irish law was a central plank of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Last year, Law Society president Andrew Caplen spoke out against scrapping the Human Rights Act.

He said: “The Human Rights Act ensures that the rights included in the European Convention on Human Rights are enshrined in UK law.

“The convention was established following the Second World War to protect the rights of the people, over the powers of governments.

“The Law Society is proud of the protection that the Human Rights Act provides, of Britain’s role in the creation of an EU-wide Court of Human Rights, and of the decisions that have been made there. We should promote the existing act, not replace it.”