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UK to incorporate ECHR?

01 March 1995

A private member's bill was given its second reading in the House of Lords on 25 January which, if allowed to go through parliament, will incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into British law. At present anyone whose rights under the Convention are violated by UK authorities must complain to the European Commission on Human Rights in Strasbourg for redress, as the UK courts have repeatedly said that they cannot force the executive to comply with the Convention. But the Strasbourg ECHR authorities will not entertain a claim unless domestic remedies have been exhausted. This confusing requirement to exhaust futile remedies causes delay and expense to complainants and probably deters many from initiating or pursuing a complaint. For that reason alone it is unlikely that the government will allow the bill to become law; the last thing it wants to see is relatively easy and quick domestic remedies for state violations of human rights. The bill has the support of several senior judges, however, including the Lord Chief Justice and a number of Law Lords, who believe the present system is regressive and allows the executive to get away with too much. Recently, the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe urged foreign secretary Douglas Hurd to incorporate the Convention, pointing out that incorporation would result in fewer cases being brought against the UK in the Strasbourg court. In the past 20 years the UK has had 34 adverse decisions.