By reducing its own accountability, the state is the only one benefitting from hugely reduced access to justice in the UK. Wikimedia Commons/Russ London. Some rights reserved.In the last two weeks, the government has confirmed it will honour its pledge to review the brutal cuts to legal aid and will delay its plans to repeal the Human Rights Act until the arrangements for leaving the European Union have been resolved. These are welcome developments, but the fight to protect human rights and access to justice is just beginning.
The government review into legal aid offers a singular and vital opportunity to persuade the government to undo some of the damage caused by LASPO. When the coalition government passed the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) in 2012, it promised to review the impact of the cuts to legal aid within three to five years of implementation. The Justice Minister, Sir Oliver Heald, recently accepted that enough time has now passed for this review process to begin. This offers a singular and vital opportunity to persuade the government to undo some of the damage caused by LASPO.
The news that the Human Rights Act has been granted a stay of execution pending the outcome of Brexit negotiations is, perhaps, unsurprising. Extricating the United Kingdom from the European Union will be complicated enough after over 45 years of EU and national law being intertwined by virtue of the European Communities Act 1972, without adding an extra layer of complexity by seeking to reform or revoke rights derived from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Conservatives campaigned on a manifesto pledging to repeal the Human Rights Act, which enshrines ECHR rights in domestic law, and to replace it with a British Bill of Rights in 2010 and 2015. Although we are still yet to see a draft Bill of Rights, it is safe to infer from policy statements that what is intended is not enhanced protection of human rights; indeed it is evident that the Conservatives propose fewer rights for fewer people.
It is a matter of public record that the Prime Minister is no great supporter of “activist left-wing human rights lawyers” or the ECHR, which was enacted in the aftermath of the Second World War with the UK as a founding signatory. Theresa May backpedalled on her previously expressed wish to withdraw from the ECHR during the Conservative leadership election, but it has since been reported that she will campaign to leave the Convention in 2020.
