Europe

Europe

HR fears raised as UK chairs Council

12 November 2011 23:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. British Tories have been campaigning to scrap the piece of law that binds London to human rights obligations accepted across Europe, but there are fears the British government changes the EU human rights regulations to its own taste now that it heads the Council of Europe, APA reports quoting Press TV.

On Monday, Britain took over the rotational chairmanship of the 47-member council, which monitors the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its associated court in Strasbourg.

The convention has been incorporated into the British law in the form of the Human Rights Act 1998, which British government officials say should be scrapped despite opposition by Liberal Democrats and legal experts.

Therefore, London has effectively come up with the opportunity to change the main convention rather than opting out of it to kill two birds with one stone: achieve the desired changes in its human rights commitments and do so without domestic backlash.

The prospects of London being in a position to carry out such a strategic maneuver has even triggered Labour to lay its weight behind the government to ensure they remove any limitations rooted in Britain’s commitment to human rights principles.

â€œAs this is the first time in a generation that the United Kingdom has held the chairmanship of the council, the next six months will provide a golden opportunity for the Government to put its money where its mouth is and press for reform of the court,â€ Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan wrote in an article for The Telegraph.

â€œIt is a small window of opportunity, so ministers will have to move quickly and decisively if they are to bring about the changes they claim to seek,â€ he added.

This comes as London drew the harsh criticism of secretary general of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland last month who warned the British government against replacing the hra 1998 with a proposed British Bill of Rights that would help London shirk its commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights.

â€œIf [the bill of rights] is an alternative to the human rights convention, it will be a problem,â€ Jagland said.

â€œBut if it is about defining the role of the convention in your own system, it is the right thing to do,â€ he added.

Sadeq Khan also called for reforms in the Strasbourg court to redefine "what cases are in its scope."

"Labour will support the Government in its endeavours... But we will not sanction watering down the protection that the convention provides to the people of this country and beyond," he added.