Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Independent Human Rights Act Review

Tuesday 29 June 2021 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The review has conducted a public call for evidence since January, receiving over 150 submissions.
  • The panel engaged with interested parties through roundtable meetings and online public events.
  • The evidence-gathering period for the review has concluded.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Alistair Carmichael Lib Dem Orkney and Shetland
Context

The independent Human Rights Act review has been in progress, gathering public submissions since January.

Question

What recent progress has been made on the independent Human Rights Act review. Since January this year, the review has conducted a public call for evidence, which has received more than 150 submissions, and has engaged with a wide range of interested parties at roundtable meetings and online public roadshow events.

Answer from Robert Buckland

Since January this year, the review has conducted a public call for evidence, which has received more than 150 submissions, and has engaged with a wide range of interested parties at roundtable meetings and online public roadshow events. The evidence-gathering period has now concluded. The panel is now considering the evidence and will draft its report over the summer.

Answered
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Q2 Alistair Carmichael Lib Dem Orkney and Shetland
Standards & Ethics
Context

The government has initiated an independent Human Rights Act review.

Question

What does the Secretary of State want to achieve with his review? He will be aware that as long as we remain a party to the European convention on human rights, the rights that are available to citizens as a consequence cannot be altered. Any changes to the Human Rights Act would just return us to the situation that we had before the Act, when we could only enforce the remedies for these rights by going to Strasbourg. Is that what the Government want to achieve here?

Answer from Robert Buckland

I know that the right hon. Gentleman will read the review's findings with great care. I have been clear that this is not about changing the fundamental rights themselves, as he has quite rightly observed; it is about the way in which the domestic courts implement and interpret those rights. It is about the mechanism, if you like. It is now 20 years since the Act came into force and I think it is right at this juncture to give it a careful examination.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not specify what changes are being considered or how they would affect citizens' rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

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