Legal News

The President of the Supreme Court – Britain’s highest court – has said that the Human Rights Bill in effect allows judges “a blank cheque” when it comes to deciding points of law.

The Human Rights Act 1998 has been used in the past to prevent deportation from the UK of vulnerable immigrants – often the right to a family life (Article 8) is used.

This can cause controversy as sometimes Article 8 has been used to prevent the deportation of convicted criminals once they have completed their sentences in British jails.

Immigrants who have entered the UK illegally to escape violence or persecution have also been allowed to remain using the Human Rights Act. However, there has again been controversy in the past over the use of the Act regarding those who may have committed offences relating to terrorism or are suspected of terrorism.

However, the President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, has said in a speech that the Human Rights Act gives precedence to the justice system in Britain over the views of politicians and the legislation they pass.

He added that this “extra power” for judges is “a good thing” because it helps keep governments “in check”.

Lord Neuberger also referred to a judgment by the Supreme Court in June regarding the 1961 Suicide Act, which makes it illegal for anyone to assist another in the act of suicide.

Campaigners are calling for assisted suicide to be made legal in Britain and the Human Rights Act has enabled the judiciary to make a case for this.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said that if the Conservatives are re-elected to government in 2015, he would aim to reinstate the Supreme Court as the UK’s highest court over the Court of Appeal at Strasburg – where decisions made in British courts can be overturned using the Human Rights Act.

Asylum appeals and appeals against deportation from the UK made under Human Rights law have on occasion caused problems for Britain’s Home Secretary Theresa May, in cases involving the deportation of terror suspects to other jurisdictions for trial – as well as asylum seekers pursuing appeals using Human Rights legislation.

Lord Neuberger was addressing members of the legal profession in Melbourne, Australia when he made his comments supporting the Human Rights Act. He said that the Act enabled lawyers in the UK to interpret the law in ways which would not otherwise be possible.

Lord Neuberger added that few of the rulings made by the Human Rights court at Strasbourg had been “misconceived”:

“You only have to look at the history of Germany over the last 100 years to see how valuable it can be for judges to be given a substantial role – supported by the rule of law – in protecting individuals against the might of the modern state,” he said.

The Human Rights Act confers basic rights to the individual set out in a list of articles, including the right to life and protection from torture, degrading treatment, forced labour and slavery – as well as freedom of thought, conscience and religion and right to respect for private and family life.

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