TL;DR: The Justice Secretary has said the European Convention on Human Rights needs to be reformed, as growing right-wing rhetoric builds around calling for the UK to exit the agreement it helped write after World War II. With critical looming battles on Trans+ rights that are set to head to Strasbourg, the focus from Labour is significant as our communities rights, are about to take centre stage - even more so.
The UK's Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has announced the government will seek to reform the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), both at home and in Europe, in response to migrants using the law to claim asylum.
Speaking at the Council of Europe, she said “public confidence in the rule of law is fraying”, and signalled that the government would seek to reform the convention - to appease those who are calling for the UK to withdraw from it - The Guardian
Alain Berset, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, has already stated that he will not "support any effort that would weaken" the human rights convention, but he has also acknowledged that it must "adapt". It follows a letter from the Prime Ministers of Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Poland and a number of other significant European countries urging for reform that gives them more control over immigration - The Guardian
Calls for the UK to leave the convention, which it helped write following the Second World War, are being spearheaded by the Reform Party and the Conservatives. Nigel Farage has long called for an exit from the ECHR, framing the move as part of 'getting Brexit done'. Kemi Badenoch, the struggling leader of the Conservative party announced she would set up a commission to examine whether the UK should withdraw from the ECHR and a number of other human rights treaties - BBC
How does reforming the ECHR impact LGBTQIA+ rights?
This is all critical for LGBTQIA+ rights, and specifically Trans+ rights, amid an increasing focus on Article 8 of the ECHR - the right to privacy. It is key in many migrant's asylum cases. It is also the focus of a judicial review into the Equality Watchdog's guidance and interpretation of the Supreme Court case that said the definition of a woman in the Equality Act was based on 'biology' - QueerAF
The watchdog, spearheaded by Baroness Falkner who has steered the organisation towards a gender-critical standpoint, has also fallen foul of Article 8. Just days after Falkner told parliament the right to privacy didn't apply to Trans+ people, a Strasbourg judge ruled it did in a landmark case with implications for all those signed up to the convention - QueerAF
This left the watchdog’s lawyers in an awkward position, having to set out a different position to Falkner in a pre-action letter for the judicial review that has been filed against their guidance. The letter said that Article 8 does in fact apply to Trans+ people. It also admitted the organisation had made errors regarding some parts of its update on the Supreme Court ruling, namely that organisations do not have to provide single-sex services, and that mixed sex single cubicles are sufficient - QueerAF
Analysis: How Trans+ rights are set to hit centre stage, amid calls for reform
The Convention on Human Rights is 75 years old. It was set up to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. It was drafted, signed and ratified to ensure the persecution of minorities that took place during World War II never happens again.
It is the cornerstone of the vast majority of challenges to the law, and is critical to the rights of people in the UK and all over Europe.
It's at the heart of the judicial review, which is challenging the advice from the so-called 'equalities watchdog' that Trans+ people should be segregated. It will be key in the fight to challenge the Supreme Court ruling when it is taken to Strasbourg by Dr Vicki McCloud.
We can expect that those who want to see the ECHR reformed or withdrawn from will use the looming Trans+ rights cases in the courts as a tool to undermine its value. They will tap into the existing hate and misinformation so much of the media peddles to push the debate into a binary leave or remain approach. I think we all remember how that worked out for us last time.
The key lesson from Brexit was that the Remain camp focused on what would be bad if we left, rather than what the benefits of membership were. That is going to be critical this time around, too. We could all benefit from brushing up on what freedoms we're afforded by being part of the convention.
We face an acute period ahead of us in our community:
A time where people who hate us are feeling more and more enabled to share, spread and communicate those attitudes.
In this period of uncertainty, you can trust QueerAF to be here - in your inbox every Saturday, to ensure you have all the latest information you need to navigate the changes, and to know how to fight back.
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