Writing in this journal, Malcolm Bishop KC recently produced a timely reminder of the important role which Oxford academics played in drafting the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and how eventually the enactment of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) made it possible to rely directly on its text when challenging the acts or omissions of public authorities (see ‘The ECHR: out of order or out of fashion’, NLJ, 15 March 2024).
While he was, of course, correct to suggest that anti-ECHR sentiments have been heard ‘not only in the hostelries up and down the country but even occasionally in the Inns of Court’, it should not be forgotten that senior politicians including former Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab have also voiced criticisms of the ECHR, and the court which acts as its guardian. Indeed, earlier in the same week as Bishop’s article appeared in print, in response to an invitation to commit to the UK’s continued membership of ‘a court and convention that have
