British Justice Minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday he wanted to prevent the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) from "
giving him orders
", revealing details of an overhaul of the human rights law .
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In an interview with the
Sunday Telegraph
,
Dominic Raab considered "
not normal
" for judges in Strasbourg to rule on issues relating to British soldiers fighting abroad, or the public health service (NHS), explaining that he was studying how to reduce the influence of the ECHR in the United Kingdom.
British law currently stipulates that judges must take into account the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.
"
I don't think it is the job of the European Court in Strasbourg to give us orders on things like the NHS, our social protection or our police force,
" said the minister, who had been an ardent supporter of Brexit .
These public services should be governed by "
elected parliamentarians
" rather than "
judicial legislation
", he said.
Reform proposals presented in the spring
Unveiling his law reform plans, Dominic Raab said he was considering a “
mechanism
” for the government to introduce legislation to “
correct
” court rulings that ministers deem “
incorrect
”.
“
We want the Supreme Court to have the last word on the interpretation of the country's laws, not the Strasbourg Court
,” he continued.
“
Just like (now that we have) left the EU, we don't want the Luxembourg Court to prevail over our judges,
” he said in reference to the EU Court of Justice (CJEU).
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The reform of human rights law also aims to prevent offenders of foreign nationality from relying on this law to avoid their deportation.
The minister called "a
serious problem
" the fact that foreign criminals use the so-called "
right to family life
"
clause of
the human rights law to prevent their deportation, a clause cited in "
between 100 and 200 cases per year
”, according to the minister.
The law reform proposals are expected to be presented to MPs in the spring.