The possible implications of repealing the Human Rights Act 1998

 

In October 2014, the Conservative Party published a strategy paper titled ‘Protecting Human Rights in the UK’. In this document, Chris Grayling in his role as Secretary of State for Justice laid out Conservative proposals for reforming the UK’s human rights laws and specifically the repeal of the Human Rights Act 1998.The proposal to scrap the Human Rights Act has been reaffirmed by members of the Conservative Party several times since, notably in the Conservative Party Manifesto prior to the 2015 election, and during during David Cameron’s speech at Chatham House in November 2015.

This report elucidates the possible implications of such a course of action, revealing the legal and political dilemmas that human rights reform may cause, with particular reference to Northern Ireland and cross-border interaction within the context of the conditions of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

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