The most marginalised in society will pay the price if human rights protections are weakened through Brexit and repealing the Human Rights Act, the UK’s three human rights institutions have warned.
In a meeting with Sir Oliver Heald QC MP, Minister of State for Justice, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Scottish Human Rights Commission and Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission stated that as we go through a period of great constitutional change the UK Government must take the opportunity to strengthen human rights protections, not weaken them.
The Minister was also told that the UK’s position as a global leader on human rights is under threat through repeated failures to implement United Nations human rights standards.
Next month the UK Government’s human rights record will be scrutinised by the UN in Geneva as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. All three commissions have submitted reports to the UN, which included issues such as access to justice, welfare reform and gender equality, as part of their role in monitoring and holding governments to account.
In a joint Chairs’ statement, David Isaac from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Judith Robertson from the Scottish Human Rights Commission and Les Allamby from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission said: