The ECHR And EU—UK Relations

The consequences of leaving the ECHR must be made absolutely clear during the UK general election campaign. In particular, it would fundamentally undermine the 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement which relies on the ECHR to provide safeguards to all Northern Ireland’s communities. References to the Belfast Agreement in the UK White Papergeneral election held in the UK on the 8 June 2017 the Conservative Party manifesto did make clear that would not withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights during the next parliament of five years. However, in the light of terrorist attacks in the UK the spring of 2017 UK Prime Minister Theresa May did say on the 6 June 2017 that she was prepared to rip up human rights laws to impose new restrictions on terror suspects.

• Primary Source

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: The UK, the EU and a British Bill of Rights http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-uk-the-eu-and-a-british-bill-of-rights/

ESO: Background information: Explainer: What are the consequences for human rights if we change our relationship with the EU? http://www.europeansources.info/record/explainer-what-are-the-consequences-for-human-rights-if-we-change-our-relationship-with-the-eu/

The Conversation, 06.06.17: Why Churchill would have disagreed with Theresa May’s stance on European human rights https://theconversation.com/why-churchill-would-have-disagreed-with-theresa-mays-stance-on-european-human-rights-78579

---