European human rights law for Britain is facing long delay
By Robert Shrimsley, Chief Political Correspondent
THE introduction of the European Convention on Human Rights into British law could be delayed as Whitehall struggles to come to terms with the huge implications of the measure.
Although the Human Rights Act cleared Parliament in 1998, ministers are questioning if it will come into force next year. One senior Home Office official said that, although the year 2000 remained the target, “we cannot guarantee that”. The delay in implementing the Act, which incorporates the convention into law - effectively giving Britain its own Bill of Rights - has been caused by the need for public authorities to prepare for legal challenges and for re-training the judiciary.
The Lord Chancellor’s Department is stressing to courts the importance of dealing firmly and speedily with human rights points in ordinary trials. This is especially vital because the experience of other countries, such as Canada, suggests that lengthy delays can be expected in the early years of incorporation. One official said: “Judges and magistrates need to get some feeling of confidence about dealing with the human rights points fairly quickly. We don’t want legal representations to go on and on. That just clogs up the courts.”
The convention places new obligations and responsibilities on courts, especially in criminal cases, to conduct themselves in a correct manner or face appeals to the verdicts.
More than £4 million has been set aside to train 35,000 judges, magistrates and court legal advisers. But it is the impact of the Act on public authorities which prompts concern. All Whitehall departments have been told to review their legislation to look for areas of possible challenge. They are not due to report until this summer.
The Act had been expected to come into force by the middle of next year but, asked last week if it would be implemented in the year 2000, Lord Williams, a Home Office minister, said: “We have not yet reached a final view on when to bring the Human Rights Act into full effect”.
Home Office officials admit that they are expecting a large number of “duff challenges” as civil rights campaigners and pressure groups try to use the convention to change British law. Possible areas for challenge include the state’s refusal to countenance homosexual “marriages”, compulsory purchase orders and exclusions from schools. Such cases would begin with judicial review but could go all the way to the House of Lords.
One official said: “I have no doubt that people will attempt challenges in those areas. In principle, the convention rights appear to be touched by our legislation and practices, whether they are not merely intruded upon but actually breached is another matter.”
Ministers point out that, because Britain complied with the European Convention even before it was incorporated into British law, there has already been ample opportunity for such challenges.
12 October 1998: Rights law runs risk of failure
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