What happens if the UK leaves the ECHR?

If the UK was not a member of the ECHR, people in the UK wouldn’t be able to bring cases against the governments to the European Court of Human Rights. This would limit accountability for governments and make it harder for people to ensure their human rights are respected.

It would also mean that if the UK Government decided to get rid of the Human Rights Act (as was attempted and failed under a previous Government with the Rights Removal Bill) there would be no safety net based on people's universal human rights.

Some have also said leaving the ECHR would breach our other international obligations and damage the UK’s international reputation. Baroness Prashar has pointed out that while the European Union and the UK currently work together to prevent and prosecute crimes and protect public securities, the European Union are allowed to terminate this agreement if the UK fails to respect the human rights treaties both parties are currently signed up to (like the ECHR).