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xCommissioner raises human rights concerns following UK visit
Date: 17th January 2023
Category:
General principles, Other human rights treaties and mechanisms
Following a visit to the UK in June 2022, the Commissioner for Human Rights the Council of Europe's report focuses on the overall human rights landscape in the UK, children’s rights, and specific human rights issues relating to Northern Ireland.
The report raises concerns over the proposal to repeal the Human Rights Act and to replace it with a Bill of Rights. As this would weaken human rights in the UK and create divergence between the interpretation of human rights by domestic courts and by the European Court of Human Rights.
The Commissioner also cited the negative impact of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act especially on the right to peaceful assembly, which will be worsened if the Public Order Bill is adopted.
The Commissioner calls for steps to counter the UK Government’s pursuit to remove asylum-seekers and refugees to Rwanda and the criminalisation of asylum seekers arriving irregularly.
The Commissioner urges for child poverty to be addressed and for comprehensive strategies and targets to be developed to achieve this. Solutions to child poverty include universal free school meals, and increased efforts to provide greater social security benefits and adequate housing.
To better protect children’s rights, the use of stop and search powers against children must be reviewed. This includes the practice of strip-searching, raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to bring it in line with international standards, and ensuring that 16- and 17-year-olds can fully benefit from child-friendly justice. Steps should also be taken to build on good practices to promote the participation of children in decision-making, including by lowering the voting age where applicable.
These calls have also been raised in Together’s shadow report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which will be launched in early February.