In defence of the ECHR – an open letter to MPs

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PrisonBy Frances Crook, Director of the Howard League for Penal Reform

Dear All Members of Parliament;

Having listened carefully to the arguments on both sides prior to this Thursday’s debate in the House of Commons I believe it would not be unfair to sum the arguments of Mr Raab, Straw and Davis as follows; ‘Does it matter if we ignore the ECHR? No.’ Alas they have missed a fundamental point.

While they are correct to the extent the UK can technically ignore any compensation order issued by the Strasbourg court without worry of reprisal. They have not considered the moral authority of the United Kingdom in international law and diplomacy.

The European Convention on Human Rights is arguably one of the greatest achievements in recent history. Not to mention one of the greatest British exports, for the convention was drafted by British lawyers and is based on British law and British neo-liberal ideology.

The convention emerged from the European experience of world war and embodies a commitment to find a way of having a continentally agreed rule of law. Following a European-wide holocaust of Jews, gypsies and ethnic minorities, countries from across the continent drafted together a list of fundamental rights. They did so in the hope that no such atrocity would ever befall their people again. The convention contains fundamental safeguards like the right to life, preventing states deliberately or recklessly killing its subjects, the right not to be tortured and the right to freedom of expression.

The assumption that we can happily ignore one right handed down by this historic document, while lecturing the world on the remainder is astounding. If we ourselves breach, on what legal authority will we question Russia the next time a pioneering journalist is killed by the state? On what legal authority could we pose questions to Turkey should they once again remove the property rights of Greek-Cypriot refugees? On what legal authority could we question our own government when Parliamentary sovereignty fails to prevent our government from banning homosexuals from serving in the armed forces or detaining suspects without trial or charge?

While I understand that many parliamentarians have reservations about giving prisoners the vote, they should understand that on Thursday night they will stand on the precipice. Regardless of what they think on this issue, our reputation in the international legal world is on the line.

Over 60 years ago our politicians signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights. They realised that while compliance wouldn’t always be easy, the ECHR’s aspiration represented the very best of us. Next Thursday the resolve of the UK Parliament will be tested again; it is my hope that despite Mr Straw, Mr Davis and Mr Raab’s protestations to the contrary our current stock of MPs will realise that compliance with the convention still matters a great deal.

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