Sussex Law School and the Sussex European Institute Scholars Call for Wider Support for the European Court of Human Rights

The Sussex Law School and Sussex European Institute at the University of Sussex are proud to welcome to our County the delegates to the High Level Conference on the Future of the European Court of Human Rights which is being held in Brighton on 18-20 April 2012.

The Sussex Law School has for many years expressed a critical but passionate support for the whole project of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), both in our teaching and our research.  For the past 20 years, the Sussex European Institute has also critically engaged with processes of European integration and contemporary European issues.  Many Sussex Law School and Sussex European Institute scholars working on this topic, at this crucial moment in the development of the European Court of Human Rights, are strongly committed to the Convention and to its importance in both the United Kingdom and wider Europe.

Their commitment is based on a number of factors:

1. They are proud that the United Kingdom has played a crucial role in the global development of human rights. The evolving principles which are enshrined in Magna Carta of 1215, the Petition of Right of 1627, and the Bill of Rights of 1689, not to mention the involvement of British lawyers in the creation of the US Bill of Rights of 1789, all provide the direct antecedents to the ECHR. Our country’s involvement in the overthrow of European totalitarianism in 1945 justified British lawyers in taking a leading role in the drafting of the ECHR in 1950.

2. Since that time, they feel the need for a strong statement of our collective European understanding of human rights has not diminished. The ECHR they argue, has proved to be crucial in the transition of former Soviet states in Eastern Europe to democracy and in defending Europe as a whole from a range of authoritarian challenges for over 60 years.

3. But they also feel there is no room for complacency in this area and that there are new, immediate and even more dangerous threats to our human rights in Europe as a result of a wide range of current developments, including:

• the financial crisis and the installation of technocratic governments in Greece and Italy (and possibly other states) with the mission of imposing austerity measures, irrespective of democratic support;
• internationally mobile crime in Europe and the establishment of new transborder responses such as the unrestricted mutual access to DNA databases under the Prüm Convention and mutual assistance;
• through the European Investigation Order, none of which have so far been brought under effective due process scrutiny;
• the continuing erosion of rights protections for those accused of terrorist offences or illegal immigration.

4. In addition, they argue that the European Court of Human Rights has a distinguished record of promoting important and highly beneficial change in the United Kingdom itself. They feel that its case law has resulted in very significant improvements to our prison system, criminal justice, childcare, family and welfare law, to name but a few areas. They also argue that new threats emerging, for example in respect of the interception of electronic communications and press freedom, all argue strongly for the retention of the ECHR as an overarching protection for British citizens. The JURISTRAS project, funded the European Commission and coordinated in the UK by Professor Susan Millns, Co-Director of the Sussex European Institute, has examined processes of human rights litigation in the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the effects of its judgments on national laws, judicial attitudes and policy making in the UK. The project website contains details of the UK state of the art report along with that of 8 other European countries (see http://www.juristras.eliamep.gr/).

Human Rights in Europe

The Sussex European Institute held a roundtable on 18 January 2012 as part of its Research in Progress Seminar Series.  The speakers, Zdenek Kavan, Dr Charlotte Skeet and Professor Susan Millns, highlighted different aspects of current human rights protection in Europe both under European Union Law and under the European Convention on Human Rights.  Particular attention was paid to the situation of minorities and the ways in which their rights are still not adequately protected in Europe.

A special summer 2012 issue of Euroscope, the termly publication of the Sussex European Institute, highlights a range of current developments in human rights across Europe. 

Do We Need a UK Bill of Rights?

A workshop held in the Law School in October 2011 on the topic, ‘Do We Need a UK Bill of Rights?’ discussed the questions posed by the Commission on a Bill of Rights’ Consultation Paper  and informed the Centre’s response to this Consultation.

The subsequent discussion also addressed: whether there was a need for a UK or British Bill of Rights, the process of drafting such a Bill and the role of the Human Rights Act 1998. The submission, drafted by Deputy Director of the Centre Elizabeth Craig, can be found at: Do we need a UK Bill of Rights? [PDF 135.11KB].

We have expertise at the Sussex Law School in a range of relevant areas such as the importance of retaining the ECHR as part of English Law (Marie Dembour. M.Dembour@Sussex.ac.uk), the potential consequences of including legal responsibilities in a Bill of Rights (Jo Bridgeman. J.C.Bridgeman@Sussex.ac.uk), the scope for recognition of children's rights (Jane Fortin. Jane.Fortin@Sussex.ac.uk), women's rights (Charlotte Skeet. C.H.Skeet@Sussex.ac.uk), and minority rights (Elizabeth Craig. Emc22@sussex.ac.uk) as well as the importance of the ECHR to criminal procedure (Richard Vogler. R.K.Vogler@Sussex.ac.uk).