Abstract
British government ministers’ use of nativist arguments to propose the removal of the basic protection of the European Court of Human Rights is causing alarm in the rest of Europe. The bid to repeal the Human Rights Act and diminish the role of the European Court of Human Rights in the UK is, the author argues, a sign of the resurgent influence of the Eurosceptic Right. Behind the rhetoric of repatriating power to the UK lies a preoccupation with halting immigration from Europe. The government’s stigmatisation of marginalised communities – Muslim, migrant and those on welfare – is paving the way for a steady erosion of rights enshrined in the Human Rights Convention.
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References
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5.
See
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Dean
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10.
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24.
At the time of writing, the bill has gone to a parliamentary committee and MPs will vote on it later. Meanwhile over 2,500 complaints by prisoners are awaiting hearing at the European Court, which has adjourned them until September 2013 to see what the British government will do.
25.
The real risk of torture by Jordan’s security services, by whom he would be detained, was accepted by a Foreign Office representative at his appeal, who, however, argued that the diplomatic assurance was adequate to protect him. See http://www.siac.tribunals.gov.uk/Documents/QATADA_FINAL_7FEB2007.pdf
26.
Statement to House of Commons, available at: http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2012/04/theresa-mays-statement-to-the-house-we-can-soon-put-qatada-on-a-plane-and-get-him-out-of-our-country.html
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29.East African Asians v UK [1981] (3 EHRR 76 ).
30.
Subsequently, government lawyers have argued that it is the independent former colonial states that bear responsibility for compensating the victims! Fortunately this application of the ‘successor state’ doctrine has been soundly rejected by the judges.
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32.See Ian Cobain , Cruel Britannia: a secret history of torture (London , Portobello Books , 2012 ).
33.See UNCAT, ‘Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the United Kingdom’ (May 2013 ), available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/cats50.htm
34.See ‘Britain needs prompt action over human rights record, UN panel warns’ , Guardian (31 May 2013 ), available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2013/may/31/uk-human-rights-record-un-panel
35.‘Abu Qatada says he will leave – and it could be within months’ , Telegraph (10 May 2013 ), available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10048558/Abu-Qatada-says-he-will-leave-Britain-and-it-could-be-within-months.html. He has now left.