Ministers are to introduce legislation designed to ensure UK courts prevail over Strasbourg after a legal challenge under the European Convention on Human Rights stalled the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda. Downing Street sources said that while the sprawling 44-page “Bill of Rights” was not a “silver bullet” to solving the immigration crisis, it would allow British courts to ignore European case law more often. It would also make it easier for the government to deport criminal aliens who assert their human right to family life if public safety overrides it. In September, Liz Truss withdrew the same bill, with sources close to her describing it as a “complete mess” that crammed too many measures into one document. It has also been opposed by some in the legal profession and by human rights groups, who have described it as a “power grab” by the state. But the Bill of Rights was backed by Dominic Raab, who was reappointed to the Cabinet as justice secretary by Mr Sunack after seven weeks on the back burner while Mrs Truss was in Downing Street. On Saturday night he said the bill would “bring a healthy dose of common sense back into the system and end the abuse of our laws” and “make it clear that the UK Supreme Court is not subordinate to the European Court of Human Rights”.
European decisions will no longer become case law
Although the bill does not directly address the issue of illegal immigration, it means that the interim injunctions issued by the Strasbourg Court against the UK government will not become case law in Britain. Officials believe migrants will be less likely to cross the Channel in small boats if they are sent to Rwanda, but the policy is on hold while it is being challenged in UK courts. The bill is likely to be controversial in some quarters after Tory MPs said the only way to resolve the conflict between Strasbourg and the British courts was to leave the ECHR entirely. Suella Braverman, the home secretary, has previously said that “eventually we have to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights” and that it was her “dream” and “obsession” to see a plane take off to Rwanda with asylum seekers. But a Number 10 source said Mr Raab and Ms Braverman were “on the same page” about the need to pass a Bill of Rights and pointed to comments he made as Attorney General where he supported the move. The legislation also contains measures that allow terrorists to be held in solitary confinement without “rights of association” and makes it harder for courts to order journalists to reveal their sources. Ms Braverman issued a new warning that “abuse of the system must stop” in an article for the Mail on Sunday. In a further hint at changes to Britain’s immigration laws, he wrote: “Where domestic or international law prevents our sovereign right to defend our borders, I will act. “Many Albanians falsely claim to be victims of ‘modern slavery’ – despite paying thousands to come here. This is an abuse of our system that must stop.” She insisted the system must focus on the “real victims of slavery” and doubled down on her defense of the Rwanda plan, adding: “This is the plan the British people want. I will make it happen.”
