Tories plan human rights challenge

The United Kingdom Government has said that it will consider withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights and the jurisdiction of the Court of Human Rights.

Questions have been raised as to the legal and political consequences of withdrawal from the European Convention, specifically, whether a European Union Member State can withdraw from the Convention while remaining in the EU.

Opinions differ as to whether a Member State can withdraw from the European Convention and remain in the EU, given that the EU Treaties specifically refer to the human rights guarantees in the Council of Europe instrument.

BBC News reported on the 17 July 2014 that a group of Conservative lawyers had drawn up a set of proposals for the Conservative Party to consider designed to limit the power of the European Court of Human Rights and to reassert the sovereignty of Parliament.

Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, sacked in the UK government reshuffle of July 2014, was thought to have warned against the planned change.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Human rights and policy wrongs http://www.europeansources.info/record/human-rights-and-policy-wrongs/

ESO: Background information: Is adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights a condition of European Union membership? http://www.europeansources.info/record/is-adherence-to-the-european-convention-on-human-rights-a-condition-of-european-union-membership/

ESO: Background information: British minister: UK might quit European rights court http://www.europeansources.info/record/british-minister-uk-might-quit-european-rights-court/

Conservative Home: Tag: ECHR http://www.conservativehome.com/tag/echr

The Guardian, 17.07.14: Tories 'to challenge European court with British bill of rights' http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jul/17/tories-challenge-european-court-human-rights-british-bill-rights

Conservative Home, 12.08.14: The motivations of May’s attack on Strasbourg http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2014/08/the-motivations-of-mays-attack-on-strasbourg.html

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