Justice Secretary Dominic Raab and his team of Ministers were questioned by Members of Parliament in the House of Commons on Tuesday 10 January. The Bill of Rights Bill (better known as the “Rights Removal Bill”), which seeks to repeal and replace the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), was one of the topics of questioning. You can read more about the Bill and its potentially dangerous and discriminatory impact in our Rights Removal Bill hub here.
Stuart C McDonald, Scottish National Party MP drew attention to former Victim Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird’s, concerns that the Bill would harm women by affecting their ‘ability to drive the police to do better’ (which you can read more about in our positive obligations briefing here) and by shattering any potential positive impact of the Victim’s Bill. He then asked the Justice Secretary if he would ‘listen to victims and their representatives and abandon his plans, which undermine them?’ Raab responded that the Bill ‘will actually help victims of crime, not least by enabling us to deport more foreign national offenders’. This response highlights a further major concern surrounding the Bill, its disregard the principle of universality. You can read more about the principle which ensures that human rights belong to us all and how the Justice Secretary's Bill changes that here.
McDonald, not satisfied with the response Raab offered to his initial question, stated that the answer ‘completely misunderstands how important convention case law has been in helping to protect victims of violence against women and girls.’ He went on to highlight that ‘in various December appearances, neither the Secretary of State nor the Prime Minister could bring themselves to rule out complete withdrawal from the European Convention altogether, which would be a disaster for victims.’ He then asked the Justice Secretary to categorically rule out withdrawal from the Convention, to which Raab responded that ‘withdrawal is not off the table forever and a day for the future, and that remains the Government’s position.’ This stance is deeply concerning. You can read about how the European Convention and its associated court works to protects UK citizens here.
Joanna Cherry KC MP, Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), also posed a question, though not on the Bill specifically. She pointed out that ‘human rights are universal’ and that in the JCHR’s 11th report entitled “Black People, Racism and Human Rights” which was published more than two years ago, the Committee stated that it expects ‘the Government to fulfil its promises to implement the recommendations from the Wendy Williams’ Lessons Learned Review as a matter of urgency.’ She then asked whether we can ‘take it that the delay in implementing the recommendations and reports that some of them are now to be ditched are indicative of the fact that the Government are unconcerned whether their forthcoming immigration legislation is human rights compliant?’ Sarah Dines MP, Secretary of State for the Home Department, replied that ‘it is absolutely not the case that the Government haven’t treated this issue with urgency, when you deal with serious issues you have to have a detailed, reliable response. You can’t just rush ahead with something that won’t work. This Government is committed to doing everything that is right’. You can read about how the Justice Secretary’s Bill will disproportionately impact Black and minority ethnic communities here in our blog by Runnymede Trust.
We explain what the Rights Removal Bill means for our Human Rights Act and human rights protections in the UK in our detailed briefings and guides.
We explain what the Rights Removal Bill means for our Human Rights Act and human rights protections in the UK in our detailed briefings and guides.
Find out what the Rights Removal Bill means for different communities and areas such as disability rights, ending violence against women and religion and belief.
Find out what the Rights Removal Bill means for different communities and areas such as disability rights, ending violence against women and religion and belief.
Get our key concerns with the Rights Removal Bill with these two-page guides to some of the significant changes the Bill will make to human rights in the UK.
Get our key concerns with the Rights Removal Bill with these two-page guides to some of the significant changes the Bill will make to human rights in the UK.
Stay up-to-date on our latest work on the Rights Removal Bill with our vlog series featuring different members of our team involved in our actions.
Stay up-to-date on our latest work on the Rights Removal Bill with our vlog series featuring different members of our team involved in our actions.
Read about our briefing to Parliamentarians that helped amplify the voices of people with lived experience in a House of Lords debate on the Human Rights Act.
Read about our briefing to Parliamentarians that helped amplify the voices of people with lived experience in a House of Lords debate on the Human Rights Act.
Parliamentary & Policy Assistant