Strasbourg, 03/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - There is a long-standing war of words between the United Kingdom and the European Court of Human Rights. In January 2012, for example, David Cameron described the court as the “fourth bite at the cherry” for European citizens unhappy with national rulings that are nevertheless correct. He made the comments within the Council of Europe itself during the British Presidency of the committee of ministers.
The British prime minister banged the drum again on Wednesday 1 October during a closing speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Amidst promises for the next election (but without promising to withdraw from the ECHR), he said he had no need for instructions from judges in Strasbourg but would introduce a “British Bill of Rights” based on British values that would, in effect, deprive British membership of the ECHR of its meaning. The désamour between the ECHR and the United Kingdom focuses on two rulings: one on giving prisoners the right to vote, which London refuses to comply with, and the other on foreigners without legal papers, whom the ECHR says cannot be extradited if they risk torture or execution in their home country. These are controversial issues in the UK and the Tories have latched onto them, possibly to turn attention away from the troublesome referendum on whether the UK should remain in the European Union, which David Cameron has promised for 2017.
At the Council of Europe the matter has been played down, with Daniel Holtgen, a spokesman for Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, pointing out that the comments are not a legislative proposal and were made by the head of a political party during an election campaign. He added that it was unimaginable that the UK would leave because it is one of the founder members of the Council of Europe and one of the first countries to ratify the European Convention of Human Rights upon which the ECHR case-law is based. Also, he added, the UK performs very well on the question of fundamental rights. (VL)