6. What consideration has the Counsel General given to the impact on Welsh law of the UK Government's review of human rights legislation? OQ57428

Thank you for your question. Last month, the UK Government launched a consultation on the Human Rights Act 1998. I have concerns about these proposals. My officials and I will be carefully scrutinising the detail to determine the impact on Welsh law and to ensure that the rights of the people of Wales are not diluted.

Thank you. Martha Spurrier, director of human rights group Liberty, has said that:

'This plan to reform the Human Rights Act is a blatant, unashamed power grab from a Government that wants to put themselves above the law. They are quite literally rewriting the rules in their favour so they become untouchable.'

The Law Society of England and Wales's president has said that:

'People from all walks of life rely on the Human Rights Act to uphold and protect their rights. Any reform of this subtle and carefully crafted legal instrument should be led by evidence—not driven by political rhetoric…. We trust that government's final proposals will preserve the UK's deserved reputation as a global leader in upholding human rights both domestically and on the international stage.' 

Fundamentally, any loss or regression or diminution of human rights is deeply worrying and destabilising, both to the individual and to the state. Counsel General, what representations and dialogue with the UK Government are ongoing in this area, and has the Welsh Government clearly expressed its position on the very deeply held concerns about such dangerous proposed actions for the Welsh citizen?

Thank you for that detailed supplementary question. The Human Rights Act review, with a view to creating a new bill of rights, is something that has to be taken very, very seriously indeed. In fact, the Member will be aware that a joint statement has been issued by myself and the Minister for Social Justice specifically on this because of our concerns about the report and the way it is framed. Can I say that it really does the UK Government no credit when the Lord Chancellor, in referring to this review, says that the purpose of it is to counter 'wokery and political correctness', whatever that means?

Human rights are a fundamental part of the Government of Wales legislation, of the devolution legislation, and, of course, all the legislation we apply has to be compliant with that, and I'm fully supportive of that. I have real concerns about the review; they are expressed within the statement. I have real concerns, for example, about the reference to rights inflation. One of the purposes is to, basically, deal with the fact that we apparently have had a growth of rights and we therefore have too many rights and therefore some of our rights have to be restricted. I have real concerns about the—. Although, in the foreword to the report, it addresses the issue of devolution, but, quite frankly, it doesn't then deal with the issue of devolution at all, other than in respect of Northern Ireland. And I also have concerns about the limitation that's been placed within the review, which basically says that it will not look at expanding the issue of social and economic rights. Well, if you're going to have a review of human rights, how can you ignore the issue of the suitability of economic and social rights protection of the people?

So, I have real concern about the pejorative way in which the report has been phrased, the lack of evidence to base some of the assumptions or leading points that are made within it. But what I can assure Members of is that this is a matter of very significant concern across all Parliaments, and we will address that very seriously and put in a very wholesome and I think substantive report on all the interests that we have as a Welsh Parliament in respect of the areas under consideration by the review, but also, I think, the areas that we believe should be added to it that, clearly, the UK Government does not intend to review at the moment, which I think is a great lost opportunity.