Charter of Fundamental Right set to be ditched in Brexit

Charter of Fundamental Right set to be ditched in Brexit

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EU rules blamed for making it harder to keep out foreign criminals and terror suspects are to be axed as part of a bid to restore sovereignty to the UK.

David Davis told MPs that the vast majority of EU laws would be transferred on to the statute book in a Great Repeal Bill designed to ensure a ‘smooth and orderly’ Brexit.

But he said ministers would take the opportunity to ditch the controversial Charter of Fundamental Rights, which has been blamed for hampering the fight against crime and terrorism.

This was welcomed by Tory MPs, who said it was the first dividend from the vote to leave the EU but Labour said it would oppose the move.

The decision was included in a detailed Government white paper on the Great Repeal Bill which will repeal the European Communities Act that enshrines the supremacy of European law. Yesterday it emerged that:

Ministers will use controversial ‘Henry VIII’ powers to fast-track up to 1,000 legal changes through Parliament with minimal scrutiny,

Britain’s Supreme Court will win the right to overturn judgments of the European Court of Justice in this country as soon as the UK leaves the EU,

The Government faces months of running battles in Parliament as it attempts to push through legislation in areas such as immigration and customs,

MPs will not get a specific vote on the Prime Minister’s decision to take the UK out of the EU’s single market,

Experts warned the scale of the legislative challenge could take ten years, although ministers are confident they can push it through in two,

Tory MPs urged ministers to go further by allowing Parliament to axe mountains of ‘ghastly’ EU laws immediately.

Henry VIII clauses are named after the Statute of Proclamations 1539, which gave the Tudor king the power to bypass parliament and legislate by proclamation.

They allow ministers to change the law without the level of scrutiny that a full Act of Parliament would need.

The use of this so-called ‘secondary legislation’ is commonplace, with roughly 1,000 laws a year changed in this way.

It can be put to a vote if MPs or peers object, but most such laws pass through unchallenged. 

The Great Repeal Bill is unusual in proposing up to 1,000 pieces of secondary legislation to translate EU regulations into British law. 

Almost 8,000 pieces were used to change UK law when we joined the EU in 1973.

Ministers say it would be impossible to make the changes in time for Brexit in March 2019 unless secondary legislation is used. They added that the powers will be ‘time limited’ in a bid to reduce controversy about the lack of scrutiny.

 

The Charter of Fundamental Rights was signed up to by Tony Blair in the year 2000 and contains 50 human rights.

The then Europe Minister Keith Vaz said it would have no more legal significance than the Beano. 

But it was incorporated into the Lisbon Treaty in 2007, enabling the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to take it into account when making judgments.

Theresa May has said he is ‘no fan of the charter’, and a Government source last night described it as ‘an increasing irritant’.

Former justice minister Dominic Raab said: ‘Removing the Charter stops yet more skewed human rights obligations from being imposed on the UK via the European Court of Justice, which has weakened our ability both to stop dangerous criminals entering the UK, and remove them once they offend here.’ 

Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Labour would oppose the bid to ditch the Charter unless ministers guaranteed that ‘all substantial rights’ in it will be converted into domestic law.

Mr Davis, the Brexit Secretary, told MPs that the Great Repeal Bill would ensure that all other EU laws, including workers’ rights, and environmental and health and safety rules, would still apply on the day after the UK leaves the EU at the end of March 2019. 

But he said: ‘Once EU law has been converted into domestic law, Parliament will be able to pass legislation to amend, repeal or improve any piece of EU law.’ Mr Davis said the legislation would mean there would be ‘no future role for the European Court in the interpretation of our laws’.

SDLP MP Mark Durkan warned that ministers would be ‘competing in a demolition derby to reduce various rights’. 

But former Tory minister Desmond Swayne said the idea of incorporating EU regulation into British law ‘gives me the collywobbles’.