THE seventy fifth anniversary of the European Commission on Human Rights was a moment to acknowledge that its original “concerns remain vitally relevant to today and that they’re crucial to our future”, Lord Alton (cross-bench) said in a House of Lords debate last month.
Besides creating “a standard legal space for over 700 million residents”, “Its 14 articles protect basic rights, from the suitable to life to the rights to privacy, conscience, and religion, freedom of expression, a good trial, family life, and more,” he said. In the UK, it’s embodied within the Human Rights Act 1998.
The Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, wanted “to make a number of theological points. . . Let us return to the Ten Commandments, where we discover the creation narratives where humankind is created in God’s image. It is concerning the inherent dignity that belongs to every and every body, not depending on sex, wealth, education, or another differentiation,” he said.
“Nowhere within the scriptures can we find the phrase human rights — and positively no reference to the ECHR. . . All laws and all conventions are ultimately human constructs. There are some who dislike the ECHR and have problems with the broader issue of human rights . . . [and] who are usually not blissful with the best way that the court has interpreted the underlying legal principles that are enshrined within the convention. But the large advantages that it has dropped at so many individuals, particularly individuals who have traditionally been marginalised and never given the power to participate and to interact, surely outweigh the frustrations that individuals sometimes feel. I, for one, am thankful that we have now the ECHR.”
Lord Rook (Labour) said that, “born amid the growing realisation of the complete and horrific extent of the Holocaust, the difficulty of freedom of faith is core to the convention. . . Sadly, the fight for religious freedom is removed from won. More than 80 per cent of the world’s population live in states where there are severe or significant restrictions on their freedoms, and that number is rising.
“The challenge to scale back persecution world wide is beyond the powers of anybody country. At a time when intergovernmental institutions are all too often and all too easily undermined, the court and its convention offer a novel opportunity for nations and institutions to work together to fashion a world where persons are truly free.”
Responding officially, Baroness Chapman (Labour) was optimistic concerning the future: “As we reset and deepen our relationships with friends across Europe and beyond to assist us face the challenges and opportunities of our times . . . we welcome this probability to reflect on all we have now achieved and to stay up for what needs to come back next.”
Lord Alton, in conclusion, was equally positive. “This debate has been worthy of the anniversary, but in addition worthy of your Lordships’ House.” The motion to take note was agreed.
