The Rights Removal Bill

Update June 2023

The new Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk, has confirmed that the ‘Rights Removal Bill’ will be officially shelved. He stated that the UK Government will continue to “recalibrate our constitution” with respect to human rights, so further regressive changes may be on the horizon, but these will not come in the form of a new Human Rights Bill.
Click here to read an article in The Independent about the Secretary of State’s statement

Update May 2023

According to The Times newspaper, the ‘Rights Removal Bill’ will likely be revoked by the UK Government. The article suggests that a combination of Dominic Raab’s resignation from the role of Secretary of State for Justice, and the unworkable nature of the Bill, will lead to it being scrapped.
Click here to read the article

Update January 2023

The UK Parliament’s Joint Committee for Human Rights has published the results of its legislative scrutiny of the Rights Removal Bill. Their report urges the Government to scrap the Bill entirely, as it threatens the universality of human rights and jeopardises devolution agreements across the UK.
Click here to read the Committee’s report in full
Click here to read a summary of the Committee’s report
Click here to read a transcript of evidence given to the Committee by Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab MP

We still remain unsure as to whether the Bill will be re-introduced to Parliament.

Reports suggest that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering a proposal from Conservative Members of Parliament to leave the European Convention on Human Rights entirely.
Read more about this breaking news story in The Guardian
Read more about the proposal in this article by Joshua Rozenburg, from ‘A Lawyer Writes’

Update October 2022

Following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss, the election of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and the re-instatement of Dominic Raab MP as Secretary of State for Justice, civil society organisations remain concerned about threats to the Human Rights Act. We are currently unsure as to whether the Rights Removal Bill might be re-introduced to Parliament.
Read more about this story in this article from The Independent

Update September 2022

Following the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the election of Prime Minister Liz Truss, the Rights Removal Bill has been halted. Little is known about the new leadership’s plans for the Human Rights Act, but civil society organisations are celebrating the delay.

About the Bill

The UK Government had previously introduced a British Bill of Rights, which if passed, would replace the Human Rights Act. The new bill was dubbed the Rights Removal Bill by civil society, because of concerns that it will lead to rights regression if passed.

Read the UK Government’s statement about the #RightsRemovalBill here

UK Parliament Joint Committee for Human Rights Response

• The Joint Committee for Human Rights has published the results of their legislative scrutiny of the Bill:
  Click here to read the Committee’s report in full
  Click here to read a summary of the Committee’s report
  Click here to read about the legislative scrutiny process, including upcoming oral evidence sessions
• The Acting Chair of the Joint Committee has written to Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab MP, expressing their concern that the Bill does not reflect the outcomes of the Committee’s previous inquiry, and disregards the opinions of those who participated in a large-scale consultation about the Bill
  Click here to read the letter in full
• The British Institute for Human Rights has published a briefing for the Committee, urging them to reject the new Bill.
  Click here to read the briefing
• The UK Parliament’s Joint Committee for Human Rights conducted an inquiry into the Government’s plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a new law in January 2022. Click here to learn more about the inquiry
• The first session of the inquiry took place on Wednesday 26th January- click here to watch the session
• The second session took place on Tuesday 1st February- click here to watch the session
• The third session took place on Wednesday 2nd February- click here to watch the session
• ‘Human Rights Act consultation ‘not a response to my report’ – Gross’– article from The Law Society Gazette on Sir Peter Gross QC’s appearance before the Joint Committee’s inquiry

Scottish Government Response

• The Scottish Government Minister for Equalities and Older People, Christina McKelvie MSP, has condemned the Bill in her International Human Rights Day speech to the Scottish Parliament
• The Scottish Government Minister for Equalities and Older People, Christina McKelvie MSP, has condemned the Bill in an official statement 

Consortium Response to the Rights Removal Bill

• Joint Committee on Human Rights, Legislative Scrutiny: Bill of Rights Bill- evidence from Human Rights Consortium Scotland, August 2022
• Over 150 Scottish civil society organisations have signed a statement expressing their opposition to the Rights Removal Bill
• The Consortium joined a group of over 150 organisations from across the UK to write to Dominic Raab, Secretary of State for Justice, asking for more scrutiny of the Bill before it goes before the UK Parliament. 
• Together with Amnesty International, Just Right Scotland and the Children’s Commissioner for Children & Young People in Scotland, we have written to Clare Adamson MSP, Convener of the Scottish Parliament Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee to ask the Committee to launch an urgent inquiry.

Civil Society and SHRC Responses to the Rights Removal Bill

• Scottish Human Rights Commission strongly opposes UK Government’s Bill replacing the Human Rights Act
• Rights Removal Bill: Public Law Project Responds to Bill of Rights Announcement
• Amnesty International UK Launches Save Our Human Rights Act petition
• British Institute for Human Rights Call to Action: Write to Your MP
• Liberty Petition: Speak Up for Human Rights

Consultation Responses to the Ministry of Justice on the proposed British Bill of Rights, March 2022

• Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)
• CEMVO Scotland
• Children’s Commissioners for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• Howard League for Penal Reform
• JustCitizens
• JustRight Scotland
• Law Society of Scotland
• Scottish Association of Law Centres
• Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities
• Scottish Human Rights Commission
• Together Scotland

Blogs

• The British Bill of Rights – what are we all to do about it?– blog by Professor Alan Miller, Professor of Legal Practice at the University of Strathclyde
• The UK’s (new) Bill of Rights– blog by Mark Elliott, Professor of Public Law and Chair of the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge
• Defending the Human Rights Act: why the UK Gov’s Bill of Rights should be of grave concern to all– blog from Barbara Bolton, Head of Legal and Policy at the Scottish Human Rights Commission
• Daniella Lock: Three Ways the Bill of Rights Bill Undermines UK Sovereignty– blog from Daniella Lock published by the UK Constitutional Law Association
• Human Rights Act could be scrapped by UK government, experts warn– blog from Seth Thévos for Open Democracy, concerning the appointment of Dominic Raab as Justice Secretary
• Human Rights Act Repeal and Devolution– blog from Christine Bell, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Edinburgh, on the impact the possible repeal of the HRA could have on devolution
• Anti-HRA Rhetoric and the Conservative Party 2019 Manifesto: Are the Proposals for a British Bill of Rights and Repeal of the Human Rights Act “Dead in the Water”?– blog from Christopher Bevan discussing the possible repeal of the Human Rights Act
• The Human Rights Act Should Not Be Repealed– Conor Gearty argues in favour of the Human Rights Act
• United Kingdom: Human Rights Act Review: Signalling a rollback of regulation and judicial oversight post Brexit?– blog from Francesca Richmond for Global Compliance News, placing the Human Rights Act review in context

The Convention

• The European Convention on Human Rights– full text of the Convention
• The European Convention on Human Rights: 1 Page Briefing– a short briefing on the content of the European Convention on Human Rights
• The Human Rights Act– full text of the Act which incorporated the Convention into UK law
• The Human Rights Act: Summary– a summary of the Human Rights Act
• What is the Human Rights Act? 2 Page Briefing– a short briefing on the content of the Human Rights Act
• Your Easy Read Guide to the Human Rights Act– a guide to the Human Rights Act in Easy Read, from the British Institute for Human Rights

Reports and Briefings

• Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights: Report on UK Visit– a report by Dunja Mijatovic, Commissioner for Human Rights for the Council of Europe, which highlights problems with the Rights Removal Bill
• UK Government Response to Commissioner for Human Rights Report Following Her Visit to the United Kingdom– a response from the UK Government to Dunja Mijatovic’s report, defending the Rights Removal Bill
• Rights Removal Bill, Key Concerns: Reducing the important principle of proportionality– an explainer from the British Institute for Human Rights
• Rights Removal Bill, Key Concerns: Limiting Access to Justice– an explainer from the British Institute for Human Rights
• Rights Removal Bill, Key Concerns: Removing Section 3– an explainer from the British Institute for Human Rights
• Rights Removal Bill, Key Concerns: Limiting Positive Obligations– an explainer from the British Institute for Human Rights
• The Unofficial Guide to the Government Consultation on Human Rights Act Reform: ‘A Modern Bill of Human Rights’– the British Institute for Human Rights’ guide to what the Human Rights Act and the Consultation are, what the main proposals are and how you can respond
• Human Rights and Devolution: The Independent Review of the Human Rights Act: Implications for Scotland– Professor Nicole Busby writes for the Brexit Civil Society Project on the implications of the Independent Review of the Human Rights Act
• Defending the Human Rights Act– a summary of the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s work to protect the Act from being repealed
• Twenty years of the Human Rights Act: Extracts from the evidence– extracts from evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into 20 years of the HRA
• Inquiry: 20 years of the Human Rights Act 1998: Written evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights– the evidence of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, submitted to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, 2018
• The Use of Human Rights Legislation in the Scottish Courts– a research paper by Paul Greenhill, Tom Mullen, Jim Murdoch, Sarah Craig, Alan Miller and Fiona M. MacDonald, for the Scottish Executive, 2004

Videos

• The New Human Rights Act Consultation Explained- video from the British Institute for Human Rights
• Independent Human Rights Act Review Report & the Government’s Consultation on the Act– video from the British Institute for Human Rights
• The Human Rights Act– a video from the Scottish Human Rights Commission
• What is the Human Rights Act?– a video from EachOther explaining the role of the Human Rights Act
• The History of The Human Rights Act– a video from EachOther giving a brief history of the Act
• How the human rights act helped a soldier’s family– a video from EachOther about the impact of the Act on ordinary people’s lives
• Historical Context of the Human Rights Act 1998– a video from IRISS about the history of the Human Rights Act, from 1945 to 1998

Previous Human Rights Act Reform News

• Justice Minister confirms plans to replace Human Rights Act– this UK Government press release confirms the plan to replace the Human Rights Act with new legislation which risks weakening human rights protections (14th December 2021)
• Leading Scottish Human Rights Organisations Unite to Reject Plans to Replace Human Rights Act- our joint statement with the Scottish Human Rights Commission, JustRight Scotland, Making Rights Real and Amnesty in Scotland, in which we reject the UK Government’s “unnecessary, regressive and divisive” plan for change (14th December 2021)
• Consultation on the Bill of Rights– the consultation document on plans to replace the Human Rights Act with new legislation. The consultation opened on 14th December 2021, and will close on 8th March 2022.
• Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government to the Equality, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament– concerning the proposed replacement of the Human Rights Act, 21st December 2021
• Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government to Civil Society Organisations– concerning the above letter, 21st December 2021
• Letter from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery, John Swinney MSP, to Dominic Raab MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice– concerning the proposed replacement of the Human Rights Act, 20th December 2021
• The New Human Rights Act Consultation Explained- video from the British Institute for Human Rights
• Independent Human Rights Act Review Report & the Government’s Consultation on the Act– video from the British Institute for Human Rights
• Justice Minister confirms intentions to bring forward consultation on Human Rights Act– recording of Human Rights Joint Committee meeting, where Dominic Raab confirmed plans to consult on unspecified reforms to the Human Rights Act (8th December 2021)
• ‘Scrap the Human Rights Act or more people will die in the Channel, warn Tory MPs’– article from The Telegraph (25th November 2021) on Conservative MPs’ recent calls to scrap the Human Rights Act
• ‘Justice Secretary Threatens to Overhaul the Human Rights Act’– article from Liberty (5th October 2021) on Dominic Raab’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference
• ‘Dominic Raab said ‘I don’t support the Human Rights Act’ ahead of being put in charge of overhaul‘- article from The Independent (17th September 2021) responding to Dominic Raab’s appointment as Justice Secretary, taking on responsibility for the Human Rights Act review
• Latest updates from the Independent Human Rights Act Review Panel
• Joint Committee on Human Rights Report to the Independent Panel– the final report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, submitted to the Independent Human Rights Act Review Panel on 8th July 2021
• Summary of the Joint Committee’s Report– a summary of the key points from the Joint Committee’s report, July 2021
• Conclusions and Recommendations from the Joint Committee– the recommendations made by the Joint Committee for Human Rights to the Independent Human Rights Act Review Panel, July 2021
• Human Rights Act Review: Do not risk UK’s constitutional settlement and enforcement of rights by amending Act, urge MPs and Peers– a news report from the UK Parliament website (8th July 2021) on the Joint Committee for Human Rights’ report to the Independent Panel
• Law Gazette ‘Government to review Human Rights Act’ Announcement of the independent review of the HRA, by Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland.
• Government launches independent review of the Human Rights Act– Government press release on the independent review of the Act
• Former appeal court judge to lead UK review of Human Rights Act– Article from The Guardian on Sir Peter Gross, chair of the Independent Review Panel
• Review of Human Rights Act Asks the Wrong Questions– Letter from Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos to The Guardian
• Dominic Grieve calls for greater ‘political maturity’ when government loses court cases– former Attorney General Dominic Grieve voices support for the Human Rights Act in its current form
• Labour fears Dominic Raab will target rights act in new justice post– Article from The Guardian on Dominic Raab’s appointment as Justice Secretary, with responsibility for the Human Rights Act review

Independent Review of the Human Rights Act: Call for Evidence February 2021

• HRCS Joint Evidence to Independent HRA Review– the Consortium’s joint submission (along with 19 members) to the Independent Human Rights Act Review’s call to evidence
• JustRight Scotland Response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act– a submission to the Independent Review, from JustRight Scotland
• ALLIANCE Response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act– a submission to the Independent Review, from the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE)
• Together Response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act– a submission to the Independent Review, from Together: Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights
• BIHR Response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act– a submission to the Independent Review, from the British Institute for Human Rights
• SHRC Response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act– a submission to the Independent Review, from the Scottish Human Rights Commission
• Scottish Government Response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act– a submission to the Independent Review, from the Scottish Government
• JRF Response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act– a submission to the Independent Review, from the Jimmy Reid Foundation
• The Faculty of Advocates Response to Independent Review of the Human Rights Act– a submission to the Independent Review, from the Faculty of Advocates
• Human Rights Act Training Session– a recording of a training session held by the Consortium and the British Institute for Human Rights, held on 19th February 2021
• Independent Human Rights Act Review: Call to Evidence– Call to evidence for the independent review of the HRA is now closed.
• Short guide for Scottish civil society organisations on responding to the Independent Human Rights Act Review– a guide for civil society organisations on how to respond to the Call for Evidence, produced by the Consortium and JustRight Scotland

Joint Committee for Human Rights Response to the Independent Review, March 2021

• Joint Committee on Human Rights Call for Evidence– the JCHR ran its own inquiry to inform the work of the Independent Panel, and ran a call for evidence which closed on the 22nd March 2021
• HRCS Evidence to the Joint Committee for Human Rights– the Consortium’s submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, on the Government’s Independent Review of the Human Rights Act