Constitutional Law Matters: Lord Carnwath lecture on 'Human Rights Act reform – is it time for a new British Bill of Rights?'

Speaker: The Rt. Hon. Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill

Duration: 60 minutes

Since coming into force in 2000, the Human Rights Act 1998 has strengthened human rights in the UK by incorporating the rights set out in the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic British law. Yet critics claim that this has enabled a ‘mission creep’ of human rights law to emerge.

This, and other decisions, prompted the Government to make a promise in its 2019 manifesto to “update” the Human Rights Act and led to the commissioning of the Independent Human Rights Act Review (IHRAR) in December 2020. Following the IHRAR’s report in December 2021, which focused on reviewing the relationship between domestic courts and the Strasbourg Court as well as the impact of the Human Rights Act on the relationship between the judiciary, the executive, and the legislature, the Government has launched a consultation paper proposing (among other things) the replacement of the Human Rights Act with a new British Bill of Rights.

In this Constitutional Law Matters event chaired by Professor Alison Young (University of Cambridge), The Rt. Hon. Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill, a former Justice of the UK Supreme Court and a Yorke Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge, will critically examine the Government’s consultation paper. Does the Human Rights Act require improvement? Would a new British Bill of Rights provide any answers?

Register to attend online