6 2GM Saturday April 30 2022 | the times
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An overhaul of human rights law that
will lead to the automatic deportation
of serious foreign criminals in most
cases will be put by Boris Johnson at the
centre of next month’s Queen’s Speech.
In a move that some in government
believe could lead to Britain leaving the
European Convention on Human
Rights (ECHR), ministers will curtail
the ability of foreign criminals to avoid
being removed from the UK
The reforms will allow criminals to
use only the “narrowest possible ex-
emption” under Article 8 of the ECHR,
which protects the right to a family life,
to avoid deportation.
Criminals with relatives in the UK
have been able to remain by claiming
that deportation infringed their right to
be close to their family. A government
source said one exemption being con-
Johnson seeks to deport foreign
criminals with rights law reform
sidered would be so narrow that it
would allow criminals to remain only if
a close relative were dying.
The reform will be one of the flagship
bills in the Queen’s Speech on May 10,
to set out the government’s legislative
agenda for the next 12 months.
The Ministry of Justice says Article 8
is used in about seven in ten successful
challenges against deportation. More
than 11,000 foreign criminals have been
released from British prisons but not
deported. The number deported fell be-
low 3,000 last year, during the pan-
demic, less than half the peak in 2016.
Dominic Raab, the justice secretary,
has given the example of a man con-
victed of domestic abuse who avoided
deportation by claiming that it would
infringe his right to a family life.
Raab’s new bill will remove the re-
quirement for courts to “take account”
of judgments made by the European
Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.The move will ensure UK courts are the
ultimate arbiter of human rights laws.
Claimants could still take their case to
Strasbourg as long as Britain remains a
signatory to the convention.
Britain played a leading role when
the treaty was signed by the Council of
Europe in 1950. The ECHR was en-
shrined in UK law through the Human
Rights Act in 1998.
The change will help to correct the
balance between free speech and priva-
cy, ministers believe, after a series of big
cases, including the Duchess of Sussex’s
victory over The Mail on Sunday last
year, which Raab described as a “drift to-
wards Continental-style privacy laws”.
A government source said the bill
would also change the interpretation of
human rights laws by allowing freedom
of speech to be restricted in only the
“most exceptional of circumstances”.
The threshold, to be decided over the
summer, will be clearly written into thenew legislation. Raab is understood to
be prepared to lessen Britain’s obliga-
tions under the ECHR as much as poss-
ible without having to withdraw from
the treaty altogether.
Leading lawyers have warned that
the reforms will damage the UK’s repu-
tation. Stephanie Boyce, president of
the Law Society of England and Wales,
said: “Weakening rights for some would
weaken rights for everyone.”
Lord Falconer of Thoroton, who was
lord chancellor from 2003 to 2007, said:
“This government is sending the mes-
sage again and again that the UK can-
not be relied on to stick by the inter-
national agreements it has entered.
Our word is most certainly no longer
our bond.”
Adam Wagner, a human rights bar-
rister, said: “While Russia is acting with
increasing aggression, this is the worst
possible time to pick a fight with the
European Court of Human Rights.”Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor
Jonathan Ames Legal Editor
Border Force officials have dismissed
suggestions that Priti Patel’s policy to
send illegal migrants to Rwanda was
already having an impact after the
tenth day without crossings.
Daily figures published by the Minis-
try of Defence, which took over opera-
tional responsibility for responding to
migrants in the Channel this month,
shows that there have been no cross-
ings detected since April 19.
It has led some in government to
people, do not tend to launch them
when the waves reach heights of
more than 30cm. Waves are expected
to reach four to five metres this
weekend.
Gaps of 16 and 13 days without cross-
ings have already been recorded this
year. There were only two days of cross-
ings recorded in February.
There has been a total of 6,
migrant crossings so far this year, more
than triple the number of people who
arrived by this time last year.
Internal Home Office forecasts pre-dict that more than 65,000 will cross
this year, dwarfing last year’s 28,526.
Under the Rwanda deal some
migrants who enter the UK illegally will
be put on a one-way flight and offered
the opportunity to apply for asylum
there. The military has also taken re-
sponsibility for Channel crossings, de-
ploying Navy patrol ships and drones.
Tony Smith, the former boss of Bor-
der Force, said that it was “too soon to
tell” if the Rwanda policy was curbing
Channel crossings but added that the
“early signs are encouraging”.Matt Dathan Home Affairs Editor
A cut above Chris Crowder, head gardener at Levens Hall near Kendal, Cumbria, tends to the world’s oldest topiary garden before World Topiary Day on May 12
Sewage legal action
The water industry regulator is
facing legal action over claims that
it failed to use its powers to stop
companies releasing raw sewage
into rivers. The environmental
group Wild Justice accused the
Water Services Regulation
Authority (Ofwat) of neglecting its
duty to ensure sewage treatment
plants avoid releasing polluting
discharge into watercourses.Longer life with Oscar
Oscar winners do not receive a
cash prize, but they do get a gold-
plated statuette, a goody bag and
years added to their life
expectancy. Researchers at the
University of Toronto looked at
934 nominated actors between
1929 and 2020 and found that
winners died at an average age of
77.1 while the average age of
nominees at death was 73.7.Jail for wealthy Qatari
A Qatari media boss acted
“completely without shame”
while treating a woman “as a
punching bag” at his £1.6 million
flat in Paddington, west London.
Saleh al-Mesallam, 32, was jailed
for seven years at Southwark
crown court for kicking and
stamping on his victim. He was
convicted of possessing class A
drugs but cleared of rape.Killer's move blocked
Dominic Raab, the justice
secretary, has used new powers to
block the transfer of Garry
Newlove’s killer to an open
prison. The Parole Board decided
to move Adam Swellings, leader
of a gang who kicked Newlove to
death after he confronted them
for vandalising his wife’s car.
Swellings was jailed for life in
2008, to serve at least 17 years.Ten pound Pom is back
The “ten pound Pom” scheme is
being reintroduced as a tourism
campaign to lure British
backpackers to Australia after the
pandemic. The South Australian
state government will limit the
offer to 200 young people, who
need a A$495 (£278) working
holiday visa first. British or Irish
citizens can then apply for a £
return ticket as long as they also
pay for accommodation through
Trailfinders. Australia used a £
ticket to attract Britons after the
Second World War.AABCEEEE
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Cryptic clues page 53 of ReviewTIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOPRwanda? No, weather stopped migrants, say officials
claim that the Rwanda policy, which
was announced five days earlier, was
deterring migrants from embarking on
the 21-mile journey.
However, Border Force sources have
dismissed the suggestion and attribut-
ed the absence of crossings on the poor
weather and conditions in the Channel.
“Anyone who knows about Channel
crossings knows it’s about the weather,
not Rwanda,” a source said.
People smugglers who facilitate the
crossings, most of which are made in
flimsy dinghies that carry about 30