Senior judge intervenes in political debate on immigration and human rights
A Supreme Court judge has called for the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to be reformed to cope with the migration crisis.
Lord Justice Hodge, deputy president of the country’s highest court, said Britain should join with other European countries to “tweak” the ECHR’s terms amid concerns it is preventing governments from dealing with immigration.
The judge is the first senior member of the judiciary to say the convention should be reformed.
It is highly unusual for a senior serving judge to make such an intervention in the political sphere, and comes amid a backlash from figures on the Right against the way judges and courts have handled immigration cases.
“At a personal level, I would feel much more comfortable if we joined an international grouping to say to the Council of Europe: ‘We need to reconsider the terms of the deal struck 70 years ago in the light of current circumstances,’” Lord Justice Hodge told The Times.
“I think there is an emerging consensus within Europe that people should go back to the Council of Europe and say, ‘Look, we need to tweak the terms of the deal and the terms of the treaty to cope with what all European countries are facing, which is a level of migration that is causing alarm to their electorate.’”
But the judge argued there was no case for leaving the ECHR, as proposed by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Kemi Badenoch has also said it is likely the Conservatives will take a similar view, but is waiting for a review by her shadow attorney general, Lord Wolfson, before announcing her policy at next month’s party conference.
“I have said to people who have been advocating withdrawal: ‘You have to take into account, if you go down that road, there will be international repercussions for Britain’s standing if we are seen to withdraw altogether from the convention, because we will be joining some interesting bedfellows if we were to do that,’” Lord Justice Hodge said.
He was referring to countries like Russia, which ceased to be a party to the ECHR in 2022, following its exclusion from the Council of Europe after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Shabana Mahmood has also criticised the “maximalist” way the UK interprets the ECHR. The Home Secretary is looking to toughen rules to stop failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals avoiding deportation to their home countries.
Sir Keir Starmer and his Attorney General Lord Hermer have made it “crystal clear” they will not quit the ECHR, despite senior Labour figures urging them to consider more radical options.
Former home secretary Lord Blunkett has called for the UK to suspend parts of the ECHR to enable more illegal migrants and foreign criminals to be deported. Jack Straw, also a former home secretary, has proposed “decoupling” human rights laws from the ECHR to pave the way for more removals.
It follows multiple cases revealed by The Telegraph on illegal migrants using the ECHR to avoid deportation, including an Albanian criminal who was allowed to stay in Britain, partly because his son would not eat chicken nuggets, and a Palestinian family permitted to come to the UK under a refugee scheme for Ukrainians.
This week Lord Hermer said the Government was ready to change the law to stop the ECHR blocking the deportation of illegal migrants and foreign criminals.
He said they would “leave no stone unturned” in seeking to toughen up the way the courts applied the ECHR.
Politics Editor
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