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The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Convention on human rights must adapt, says Council of Europe head
The European convention on human rights (ECHR) must adapt while continuing to uphold its core values, the head of a European rights council has said. Alain Berset, the secretary general of the Council of Europe (CoE), acknowledged growing criticism of the 75-year-old treaty, but said reform should be approached with care and rooted in shared democratic principles. In an interview with the Times, Berset, who took office earlier this year, said the legal framework underpinning the convention, which applies to 46 countries, including the UK, should not be treated as untouchable. 'We are witnessing a world where things are changing rapidly,' he said. 'It is accelerating. We see this, and it means that it is normal that we must also adapt to this. We need adaptation. We need discussion about the rules that we want to have, and there is no taboo.' He added: 'I see the necessity to adapt but we must also do this respecting our core values.' Berset's comments come amid growing political pressure in several European countries to overhaul the ECHR's scope, particularly in response to migration. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative party, is expected to take an even harder line in a speech on Thursday. She will say that Britain should consider leaving the convention entirely, arguing that it impedes efforts to tackle migration. 'I have thought long and hard about this, and I am increasingly of the view that we will need to leave, because I am yet to see a clear and coherent route to change within our current legal structures,' she will say. Human rights organisations have expressed alarm at recent rhetoric around reform, warning that undermining or withdrawing from the convention risks weakening protection for society's most vulnerable groups, including refugees fleeing war and persecution. Many argue that the ECHR plays a vital role in holding states to account, especially in areas such as detention, pushbacks over border crossings and surveillance. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion But tensions around the ECHR have intensified after a group of nine European countries, including Italy and Denmark, issued an open letter calling for greater national control over migration policies. In the letter, dated 22 May, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, joined the leaders of Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland in urging 'open-minded conversation about the interpretation of the ECHR'. While reaffirming that the principles underpinning the convention were 'universal and everlasting', the letter continued: 'We now live in a globalised world where people migrate across borders on a completely different scale.'
Times of Oman
27-05-2025
- Business
- Times of Oman
9 EU states urge migration law rethink at Europe's top court
Brussels: The push for more restrictive migration policies from some European governments has pivoted toward Europe's top human rights court. Spearheaded by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, nine European Union member states have penned an open letter calling for a reinterpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights to make it easier to "expel foreign national criminals." The leaders' exact demands are unclear. The signatories say their goal is to "launch a new and open-minded conversation" rather than elicit quick legal changes. But the move in itself is controversial, sparking questions about judicial independence in Europe and the legal architecture designed to protect human rights. What is the European Convention on Human Rights? The convention is an international treaty that was drafted and signed some 75 years ago in the aftermath of World War II. It spells out fundamental rights and freedoms for signatory states, such as the prohibition of torture, the right to a fair trial and freedom of expression. In the 1960s, it was updated to ban the death penalty. The convention forms the legal backbone of the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights body. The organisation is older than the European Union, and includes most of the continent's countries — it comprised 47 states until Russia was expelled in 2022 over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Individuals who believe their rights under the convention have been violated can sue their government at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, after exhausting all national legal pathways. Recent high-profile cases at the court include orders to ground migrant deportation flights bound for Rwanda from the UK over the African country's track record on rights, and older Swiss women asking the court to order their government to take more action against climate change. 'More freedom to decide' In the open letter dated May 22, nine European states call for "more room" to "decide on when to expel criminal foreign nationals" and "more freedom" to track "criminal foreigners who cannot be deported." The states also say they "need to be able to take effective steps" against "hostile states" that are "instrumentalising migrants." "The world has changed fundamentally since many of our ideas were conceived," they write. "We now live in a globalised world where people migrate across borders on a completely different scale." "We believe that the development in the court's interpretation has, in some cases, limited our ability to make political decisions in our own democracies," the letter reads. The leaders note that their group — which also includes the leaders of Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belgium, Estonia and the Czech Republic — spans the width of Europe's political spectrum. While Italy's Meloni hails from the hard right, her Danish counterpart is a prominent figure from the EU's centre-left. "We know that this is a sensitive discussion. Although our aim is to safeguard our democracies, we will likely be accused of the opposite," they write. 'No judiciary should face political pressure' The Council of Europe's secretary-general appeared unimpressed in a statement he released in response. "Debate is healthy, but politicizing the court is not. In a society governed by the rule of law, no judiciary should face political pressure," Alain Berset said on Saturday. "Institutions that protect fundamental rights cannot bend to political cycles. If they do, we risk eroding the very stability they were built to ensure. "The court must not be weaponised — neither against governments, nor by them," he added. A political act? Basak Cali, a professor focused on international human rights law at the University of Oxford, said the letter was "not a legal way of participating in discussions." "It's more of a political act," she told DW over the phone. "It's not very legally clear in the letter what they would like to change," she said, adding that the court already "exercizes deference to states" in cases related to migration. "They kind of say that the court should agree with them when it has cases in the future. But the point is that that's not how courts work," she said. Pointing finger at court is 'simplistic' Alberto-Horst Neidhardt, a senior migration researcher with the European Policy Centre, said the European Court of Human Rights is not the primary driver of problems EU states face when trying to deport criminals. "Neither European law nor the convention prevent them from expelling persons who pose a security threat," he explained. "It has to do with lack of cooperation between member states. It has to do with legal hope loopholes in the framework. It has to do with lack of cooperation by third countries that oftentimes do not want individuals who pose a security threat back on their territory," he told DW. "It's a bit simplistic to just point the finger to the court." Even if the nine states succeeded in sparking a reassessment of the court, they remain bound by other EU and UN rules on migrant rights. "This stays as a legal fact, regardless of these kinds of letters," said legal scholar Cali. Though the number of people arriving illegally in Europe has decreased, migration policy remains a fiercely debated issue in the EU — one on which elections can be won or lost. The issue has also contributed toward a rightward political shift in much of Europe. "All the statistics suggest that we are seeing a reduction in irregular arrivals. In some member states, including Germany, we've seen a reduction of first-time asylum applications … Yet the political rhetoric remains very hostile," Neidhardt said. He sees the Italo-Danish push as the latest step in a broader bid to address some voters' concerns. "All these actions may somehow send, in the short term, a political message that is welcome," Neidhardt said. But in the longer term, he added, the new letter and similar moves will keep migration as a top talking point and will be unlikely to shift opinion away from the extremes and toward the political center.
Telegraph
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Nigel Farage may have an unlikely ally against the ECHR
For as long as the UK remained in the EU, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was not a realistic option. Although the convention is not a European Union matter but a construct of the wider, 46-member Council of Europe, it was nonetheless incorporated into EU law. It is now open to British governments to leave the ECHR or decline to be subject to decisions of the human rights court in Strasbourg. But despite threats to do so it has never been put forward as a serious option in any major party's manifesto. Labour is fully committed to retaining the convention and the Human Rights Act. The Conservatives have hinted they might propose leaving in order to stop the convention being used by courts to prevent the deportation of foreign criminals. This is still the subject of a debate inside the party. Only Reform has so far committed to removing the UK from the auspices of the ECHR. 'Three quarters of the country would cheer that to the rafters', Nigel Farage said recently. It now turns out that he might have support from an unlikely source – the EU. As we report, at least nine European leaders – including Giorgia Meloni of Italy and Poland's Donald Tusk – are also frustrated with the way the convention is being used to protect criminals. This is an opportunity for Britain to rally support among EU and Council of Europe members for a fundamental revision of the ECHR to make it more relevant to modern mass migration. Instead of a never-ending argument about whether to leave the convention there may be enough support in Europe for a conference to consider a new approach.
Arab News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Council of Europe defends court against criticism over expulsions
ROME: The Council of Europe has defended the independence of the European Court of Human Rights, after nine member states said its interpretation of rights obligations prevented them from expelling migrants who commit crimes. In a joint letter made public, leaders of Denmark, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland called for a 'new and open-minded conversation' about how the court interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. 'Their concern centers on rulings in the field of migration,' Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset said in a statement. 'These are complex challenges, and democracies must always remain open to reflection through the appropriate institutional avenues.' However, Berset stressed that the European Court of Human Rights 'is not an external body' but the legal arm of the Council of Europe, and is 'bound by a Convention that all 46 members have freely signed and ratified.' 'It exists to protect the rights and values they committed to defend,' he said. 'Upholding the independence and impartiality of the Court is our bedrock.' He warned against politicizing the court. The nine European leaders said the court's interpretation of the convention in cases concerning the expulsion of 'criminal foreign nationals' has protected the 'wrong people' and placed too many limits on deciding who can be expelled. The Council of Europe is not an EU institution and was set up in the wake of the Second World War to promote peace and democracy.
LBCI
24-05-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Council of Europe urges governments 'not to weaken' rights convention
The Council of Europe on Saturday urged European governments not to undermine the European Convention on Human Rights, after Italy and eight other EU states urged a rethink of the accord, especially on migration. "As we face today's complex challenges, our task is not to weaken the convention, but to keep it strong and relevant," said Alain Berset, secretary general of the Council of Europe, which includes the European Court of Human Rights, the legal body that enforces the convention. AFP
