I intend to address new clause 15. It is an iron and inescapable consequence of new clause 15 that it would put this House and the Government in complete breach of their obligations under the European convention on human rights. My hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab) has not sought to deny that, but seeks to suggest that whatever this House passes it would, none the less, be lawful as a question of domestic law—of course, in that respect he is right. The question is whether we should knowingly legislate in direct and conscious breach of our international law obligations. In my judgment that is not consistent with the dignity of this House. The right way to approach an international obligation with which we have a legitimate dispute is to take an axe to the root cause of the problem, and not continually to worry away like a dog gnawing at its own tail in frustration at the problem. The root of the problem lies in our adherence to the convention, and we cannot seek to avoid it or to play fast and loose with it in the way that new clause 15 does. In considering their votes in relation to new clause 15, I urge my hon. Friends to ask themselves whether it is consistent with the dignity of this House to legislate consciously and knowingly in contravention of obligations that we have solemnly undertaken.
If I thought that my hon. Friend’s clause would practically have a benefit that I could measure and see as rational and logical and likely to achieve the cause that he and I both support, which is a radical revision of our relationship with the convention, then I might indeed, even then, consider supporting it, but it will not work. It is doomed to fail, as inevitably it will when it reaches the Strasbourg Court. We cannot exclude from the operation of the entire convention, with the exception of two articles, the actions of the Secretary of State, who is a public authority. Nothing could be more clearly in direct contravention of our obligations than to say that she may act in violation of a human right. Of course, the courts in this country will declare it to be incompatible and the courts in Strasbourg, armed with that declaration of incompatibility, will unquestionably also declare it to be incompatible and in breach of our obligations.
What is the answer? The answer is that devised by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State: a careful, measured, balanced set of provisions that might just—although I have my reservations even about them—escape the scrutiny of the European Court of Human Rights. In doing so, they would achieve the end that each and every one of my colleagues on the Conservative Benches wishes to see achieved, which is that these criminals are sent home rather than finding a ready resort in the Court of Strasbourg as they would under the new clause proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton, under which the statute would be struck down and the individual cases would eventually have to be reviewed by the domestic courts.
My hon. Friend’s cause is noble and valiant, but doomed, and I urge my hon. Friends, while approving the motivation behind his new clause, to vote against it.
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