‘Britain not bound by European court of human rights’

A British judge renowned for his report on press ethics, Brian Leveson says UK courts no longer automatically defer to European Court of Human Rights’ rulings.

Leveson says he is not “crushed by the European jackboot” when it comes to applying the European convention of human rights in British courts. However, he is obliged to take the Strasbourg court’s rulings “into consideration”.

He said the convention was “devised in large part by British lawyers, reflecting British values, to ensure that the activities that we’d all heard about during the Second World War never repeated themselves”.

However, he did not outline the fate of future or current lawmaking on the topic.

“When the convention became a part of UK law it allowed our citizens to cite the convention directly. That doesn’t mean we are bound [by its decisions] ... the legislation only requires us to take them into account,” he said.

“So if it looks like a [British] statute could have one of two meanings, and one complies with the convention and one doesn’t, we are required by statute to follow the one that complies with our convention responsibilities.”

Leveson insisted British judges would never depend on the Strasbourg courts due to the fact that UK courts have “matured” in recent years regarding their consideration of ECHR decisions.

“The oath that every British judge takes is to try every case according to the laws and usage of the realm, which means we have to comply with the law as set out by parliament and higher courts. Parliament has required us to take account of European decisions.”

But Thomas Buergenthal, a former judge at the international criminal court in The Hague said he responded with “sadness and surprise” to those urging Britain to leave the EU.

“I think the UK doesn’t have to be in the convention because the legal system in Britain is bad,” Buergenthal said. “The presence is so important because Britain influences other judges from other countries and how the law operates.”

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