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The Prime Minister, along with his aides and ministers, is putting forward proposals to curb the use of human rights law where European judges are believed to have “overreached”. This is believed to be to prevent migrants from avoiding deportation and to protect British soldiers from being prosecuted abroad. It follows EU officials who claim Britain has violated international law by attempting to re-evaluate the Withdrawal Agreement.
Plans proposed by the UK government include opting out of the Human Rights Act (HRA), enacted into British law in 1998, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
In its current form, the law informs British courts to apply the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in their judgments.
Opt-out would prevent many migrants and asylum seekers from using the law to avoid deportation by going to court and applying European laws.
They are also believed to protect British soldiers from claims against their activities abroad.
READ MORE: Impact of Brexit: Downing Street responds to ‘ridiculous’ threat from Brussels on food exports
The government is expected to announce a formal review of opt-out measures in the coming weeks.
One proposed option to slow down the legislation is to amend the HRA or prevent the law from affecting newer laws, such as the current foreign operations bill.
The bill contains a “presumption against prosecution” against service personnel after five years, which ministers have said “significantly establishes the legal barrier to prosecution” and amends the HRA to include a “specific duty to consider the repeal “of the ECHR.
A less radical proposal would make changes that would affect the interpretation of the law by British judges, rather than modifying the law.
Conservative MPs have spoken out in recent weeks on the need to eliminate human rights laws to end the migration crisis.
The Common Sense Group, made up of more than 40 Conservative MPs, wrote to Johnson demanding “root and branch reform” of the asylum system, which may include rewriting the HRA.
Sir John Hayes, head of the group, said: “The Human Rights Act in its current form is not suitable for its purpose.
“Of course, certain legal rights, such as the right to a fair trial, are important … but the Human Rights Law, as it stands, is being abused by an entire army of lawyers.”
This follows outrage in the EU over Mr Johnson’s decision to amend the Withdrawal Agreement using the Internal Market Act.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis admitted to lawmakers that the bill “violates international law in a very specific and limited way.”
But the Prime Minister stood firm against criticism of the proposed bill and accused the EU of threatening a food “blockade” in the Irish Sea.
Johnson added that the EU’s threats to revoke the UK’s “third party” status for food exports could destroy the “economic and territorial integrity of the UK.”
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