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Protecting human rights

14 October 2019
Issue: 7859 / Categories: Legal News , Human rights , Brexit , EU
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The Human Rights Act, which enacts the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, may come under attack again in the current ‘isolationist’ climate, Geoffrey Bindman QC has warned.

If there is another Conservative government, especially if it follows the UK’s departure from the EU, ‘we may expect it to renew plans to leave the Convention and repeal the Act,’ Bindman writes in this week’s NLJ.

‘There is no necessary connection between our adherence to the Convention and our membership of the EU but leading Conservative politicians have long disliked both, seeing human rights law, like the EU, as an encroachment on British sovereignty. The Conservative Party manifesto of 2015 commits a future Conservative government to withdraw from the Convention and repeal the Act, replacing both with a British Bill of Rights.’

Although some politicians have ‘relied on the occasional adverse Strasbourg decision to justify their criticism of what they see as foreign interference’, Bindman says the Strasbourg court’s margin of appreciation doctrine minimises disharmony by giving weight to the traditions and preferences of individual member states.   

Issue: 7859 / Categories: Legal News , Human rights , Brexit , EU
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Muckle LLP—Rachael Chapman

Sports, education and charities practice welcomes senior associate

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Ellisons—Carla Jones

Partner and head of commercial litigation joins in Chelmsford

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Freeths—Louise Mahon

Firm strengthens Glasgow corporate practice with partner hire

NEWS
One in five in-house lawyers suffer ‘high’ or ‘severe’ work-related stress, according to a report by global legal body, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC)
The Legal Ombudsman’s (LeO’s) plea for a budget increase has been rejected by the Law Society and accepted only ‘with reluctance’ by conveyancers
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
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