A lawyer says the UK “still has the best human rights record in Europe” following the release of new figures by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The new stats saw the UK have the least number of cases for every 10,000 people living in it brought before the Strasbourg court in 2023 with just 0.03 percent.
Britain also topped the list in 2022 and 2021 and last year its nearest rivals were Ireland with 0.04 percent and Germany with 0.06 percent.
Writing on his A Lawyer Writes blog, solicitor Joshua Rozenburg said the “vast majority” of cases brought against the UK are dismissed.
He said: “Just as the vast majority of cases brought against the UK are dismissed — the court found two violations of the convention in one case out of 176 lodged last year — the proportion of interim measures issued is also tiny.
The Government plans to allow ministers to ignore the court’s so-called Rule 39 orders, but ECHR president, Siofra O’Leary, warned the UK against this at the court’s annual press conference.
She said: “There is a clear legal obligation under the [European Convention on Human Rights] for states to comply with Rule 39 measures.
“The court issues interim measures in exceptional circumstances where there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm.”
O’Leary said she could not comment individually on the Rwanda plan, but added: “Rule 39 measures are almost always sought in situations of urgency, if not extreme urgency.
“And the nature of the urgency, or the degree of urgency, is something which Governments control. The court doesn’t control the degree of urgency.”
