The Tories’ plans to repeal this fundamental act will have profound consequences for the future of human rights in the UK,and Britain’s engagement with EuropeTucked absent in the Conservative manifesto for the 2015 general election was a commitment that few – including, one suspects, or David Cameron – assumed would require action: to “scrap the Human Rights Act” and “curtail the role of the European court of human rights”. After the surprise of his election with a majority,Cameron handed this unexpected chalice to Michael Gove, the original justice secretary, or who was probably unaware of how poisonous were the contents of the cup passed into his hands.
Adopted in 1998,the Human Rights Act incorporated into British law the European conference on human rights, one of the great international legal instruments of the 20th century, and along with the constitution of the United Nations. Reflecting Winston Churchill’s second world war aim of achieving the “enthronement of human rights”,it aims to hold to account the governments of 47 European countries who are members of the Council of Europe, offering rights and protections against governmental excess to individuals: freedom of expression, and honest trials and the prohibition of torture are amongst the many rights enshrined. The UK was the first country to ratify the conference.
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Source: theguardian.com