- Freedom of speech to be given greater weight in law
- New permission stage in court to prevent trivial legal claims
wasting taxpayers’ money
- Allows future laws to make it harder for foreign criminals to
frustrate deportation process
The Bill will ensure courts cannot interpret laws in ways that
were never intended by Parliament and will empower people to
express their views freely.
At the same time, it will help prevent trivial human rights
claims from wasting judges’ time and taxpayer money. A permission
stage in court will be introduced requiring people to show they
have suffered a significant disadvantage before their claim can
go ahead.
The Bill will also reinforce in law the principle that
responsibilities to society are as important as personal rights.
It will do this by ensuring courts consider a claimant’s relevant
conduct, like a prisoner’s violent or criminal behaviour, when
awarding damages.
The Bill will make clear that the UK Supreme Court is the
ultimate judicial decision-maker on human rights issues and that
the case law of the European Court of Human Rights does not
always need to be followed by UK courts.
Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for
Justice, said:
The Bill of Rights will strengthen our UK tradition of freedom
whilst injecting a healthy dose of common sense into the system.
These reforms will reinforce freedom of speech, enable us to
deport more foreign offenders and better protect the public from
dangerous criminals.
The Bill of Rights will make it easier to deport foreign
criminals by allowing future laws to restrict the circumstances
in which their right to family life would trump public safety and
the need to remove them.
It will mean that under future immigration laws, to evade removal
a foreign criminal would have to prove that a child or dependent
would come to overwhelming, unavoidable harm if they were
deported.
As a result, any new laws will curb the abuse of the system that
has seen those convicted of hurting their own partners and
children evade removal by claiming it would breach their right to
family life in the UK.
The Bill of Rights will also:
- Boost freedom of the press and freedom of expression by
introducing a stronger test for courts to consider before they
can order journalists to disclose their sources.
- Prevent courts from placing new costly obligations on public
authorities to actively protect someone’s human rights and limit
the circumstances in which current obligations apply, for
example, police forces having to notify gang members of threats
towards them from other gangs.
- Insulate the Government’s plans to increase the use of prison
Separation Centres against legal challenge from extremist
offenders claiming ‘a right to socialise’.
- Recognise that trial by jury is a fundamental component of
fair trials in the UK.
- Prevent human rights from being used as a way to bring claims
on overseas military operations once alternative options are
provided by upcoming legislation.
- Confirm that interim measures from the European Court of
Human Rights under Rule 39, such as the one issued last week
which prevented the removal flight to Rwanda, are not binding on
UK courts.
This will be achieved while retaining the UK’s fundamental
commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights.
