Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Human Rights Act 1998.

The Human Rights Act has been in force for over 20 years now and it is entirely right that we should seek to update it. We need to make sure that our human rights framework continues to meet the needs of the society it serves.

In December 2020, the Government established the Independent Human Rights Act Review (IHRAR) to examine the framework of the Human Rights Act, how it is operating in practice and whether any change is required. We published the IHRAR Panel’s report on 14 December alongside our consultation on proposals to overhaul the Act, and replace it with a Bill of Rights.

The UK will remain a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. Our objective in overhauling our human rights legislation will be to change, reform and revise the domestic interpretation and application of the convention by the UK courts.