Rishi Sunak’s flagship Bill is on course for an explosive legal showdown in Strasbourg, after the European Court of Human Rights said that despite the PM’s new legislation deportations will still breach international law.
Mr Sunak has already pledged to ignore so-called Rule 39 orders from the ECHR, setting the UK up for potential legal action by the Human Rights body.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, ECHR president Síofra O’Leary said the UK would breach its legal obligations if it refused to comply with a Strasbourg judge demanding an injunction on any deportations.
She warned: “There is a clear legal obligation under the European Convention on Human Rights for states to comply with Rule 39 measures. The legal basis for this is principally Article 34 of the convention”.
“In the past, where states have in the past failed to comply with Rule 39 indications, judges have found that the states have violated their obligations under Article 34 of the convention.”
She also appeared to compare Mr Sunak with Russian despot Vladamir Putin, when arguing the UK has previously declared the need for other states to comply with Rule 39 indications.
In 2021 the UK urged President Putin to abide by an ECHR measure regarding the release of political prisoner Alexei Navalny.
Responding to the legal chief’s incendiary remarks this morning, Tory Brexiteers are already holding the Prime Minister’s feet to the fire, calling on him to stand by his promise to ignore any legal interference.
Red Wall MP Jonathan Gullis said the ECHR is already “shamelessly trying to meddle with our nation’s sovereign right to control our borders”.
In a call to arms, he demanded: “We must ignore it!”
Senior Brexiteer and member of the ERG’s Star Chamber Court David Jones told the Express the Prime Minister was “entirely right” to promise he would ignore such meddlesome human rights rulings.
The legal brain pointed out: “Rule 39 indications are not binding on the UK.
“They are pronouncements frequently made in the dead of night by Strasbourg judges on the basis of minimal evidence and without hearing argument.
“They are alien to our legal system. Under the Rwanda Bill, ministers can ignore rule 39 indications.
“Furthermore, the Prime Minister has said that he won’t allow a foreign court to stop the flights taking off. He was entirely right to do so.”
The comments from Ms O’Leary were swiftly slapped down by Downing Street, as Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said he is “confident” the Government’s new flagship Rwanda Bill is “compliant” with international law.
He said: “We’re clear the Bill and the treaty address the Supreme Court’s concerns. There should be no need for Strasbourg to intervene to block flights in the way they did in 2022.
“We’ve also drafted the Bill to give ministers the power not to comply with those rulings if necessary. And obviously every case is assessed on its individual facts, but the Prime Minister has been clear repeatedly that we will not let a foreign court block flights from taking off.”
He added it would be “bizarre” to compare Russia’s “cruel treatment of Alexei Navalny, who was a victim of an attempted assassination attempt, and our plan to protect and deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous crossings across the Channel”.
