The Sussex Salon Series returned last week, when a panel of five debated the Human Rights Act ahead of a sell-out Studio Theatre at the Brighton Dome. 

The series, which is now in its fifth year, was created by the School of Law Politics and Sociology as an alternative evening out and highlights research at the University that engages with contemporary issues in a way that will appeal to a wide audience. 

The latest event in the series, which took place on 16 June, saw the panel – which included Dr Michael Pinto-Duschinsky (Senior Consultant on Constitutional Affairs at Policy Exchange), Professor John Dearlove (University of Sussex), Dr Charlotte Skeet (University of Sussex), Paul Bowen QC (Brick Court Chambers, London) and Bella Sankey (Director of Policy for Liberty) – discuss the Human Rights Act, with some clear differences among them about the Conservatives’ plans to abolish the legislation. 

Throughout the evening, the 100-strong audience were polled on a number of questions, including ‘Should we repeal the Human Rights Act?’ (65% said no at the start of the evening, a figure which rose to 88% by the close of the event) and ‘Should the UK withdraw from human rights supervision of the council of Europe through the European Court of Human Rights?’ (1% voted yes, while 89% said no, and 10% didn’t know). 

As well as learning the truth behind some of the most prominent myths about the Human Rights Act, such as that it did not prevent an illegal immigrant from being deported because he had a pet cat, the audience had the opportunity to probe the panel. 

Questions covered topics such as access to legal aid and defending rights against the backdrop of legal aid cuts, membership of the European Union and what withdrawing would mean for the UK and its relationship with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), government policies which already seek to undermine human rights, ‘mission creep’ by the ECHR, and UK sovereignty over its own human rights issues. 

The event was covered on Twitter by Kelly McBride of the Democratic Society, whose tweets are available to access via Storify for anyone who was not able to attend on the night.

Details of previous Sussex Salon events can be found via the School of Law, Politics and Sociology website.

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