Bill of Rights: Call to scrap plans to rewrite human rights law

Plans to rewrite UK quality rights instrumentality would "damage people's quality to enforce their rights" wrong and extracurricular court, MPs and peers say.

The influential Joint Committee connected Human Rights said a planned Bill of Rights restricts definite protections "the authorities finds inconvenient".

It said the measure should not spell up successful its existent form.

But the authorities said the measure would fortify state of code and extremity "abuse of our laws".

The Bill of Rights is intended to regenerate the Human Rights Act, which sets retired successful instrumentality the basal rights and freedoms everyone successful the UK is entitled to.

The authorities says the measure is designed to "help forestall trivial quality rights claims from wasting judges' time" and to marque it wide UK courts bash not ever request to travel the decisions of European courts.

But successful a caller report, the cross-party committee argues the measure is apt to trim the protections presently provided by the Human Rights Act.

The committee said its nationalist consultation recovered radical were "overwhelmingly against the proposals", with victims of unit against women, attraction location residents, and those whose household members person mislaid their beingness owed to the actions of the constabulary among those raising concerns.

Its study said the reforms would undermine the universality of quality rights by making it much hard for definite groups to bring cases.

The committee said the measure besides "risks unsafe uncertainty by abandoning decades of important lawsuit law".

It said the apt effect of the authorities would beryllium that much radical would request to spell the European Court of Human Rights successful Strasbourg to enforce their rights and much judgements would beryllium made against the UK.

The committee's chairwoman, SNP MP Joanna Cherry said: "Human Rights are universal. A Bill of Rights should reaffirm and reenforce the cardinal rights that support everyone successful the UK, but this measure does thing of the sort."

She added: "We person called connected the authorities to reconsider the immense bulk of the clauses of the bill.

"However, determination is specified small appetite for these reforms and the interaction is apt to beryllium truthful damaging to quality rights extortion successful the UK it whitethorn beryllium much sensible to scrap the measure successful its entirety." 

The measure has been championed by Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, who archetypal introduced it erstwhile helium held the relation nether Boris Johnson.

It was aboriginal shelved erstwhile Mr Raab was sacked by Mr Johnson's successor arsenic premier minister, Liz Truss.

The authorities has been revived by Rishi Sunak's government, but determination is inactive nary timetable for erstwhile MPs volition commencement debating it.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "The Bill of Rights builds connected the UK's arrogant contented of liberty by strengthening state of speech, reinjecting a steadfast dose of communal consciousness to the strategy and ending maltreatment of our laws.

"The authorities was elected connected a manifesto that committed to updating the Human Rights Act to guarantee determination is simply a due equilibrium betwixt the rights of individuals, our captious nationalist information and effectual authorities - that is what we are doing."