Proposals in a Private Member’s Bill to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’ would “very likely” be a breach of human rights law, a top lawyer has said.
Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle’s Conversion Practices (Prohibition) Bill is being debated on friday. It proposes a ban on offering or promoting conversion practices, while also promising protections for folks and the practice of faith.
Senior human rights lawyer Jason Coppel KC is just not persuaded and has warned that the terms of the Bill are so “broad in scope” that they’d criminalise expressions of private conviction “even in the event that they are made without expressions of hatred or intolerance”.
He also said it will result in a “serious intrusion” into the bizarre practices of churches.
“Whilst some attempt has been made to craft exemptions or exceptions in order to make sure that the practice of faith is just not prohibited, the central prohibition within the Bill … stays a large one, applying to churches and other religious organisations, and to those expressing certain views, including gender critical views, outside those settings,” he said.
Mr Coppel said that the Bill would interfere with religious freedoms protected by human rights law.
“I consider that the Bill … if passed, would constitute a serious intrusion into the legitimate activities and practices of Christian churches and non secular communities, which could be contrary to their rights protected by the ECHR, and so to the Human Rights Act 1998,” he said.
“They would also interfere with the legitimate expression of gender critical views, again in a fashion which could be more likely to breach ECHR rights.”
That was his conclusion in a legal opinion provided to The Christian Institute, which is campaigning against the introduction of a conversion therapy ban.
Simon Calvert, Deputy Director at The Christian Institute, said that the wording of the Bill was “sloppy” and definitions were “far too broad”.
“If passed this might lead to criminalising Christians and gender-critical parents for conversations which most individuals would consider perfectly reasonable,” he said.
“This is just not about protecting people from abuse. That is already illegal. There is not any ‘harm’ test within the Bill. It is about punishing people for talking.
“Each iteration of a conversion therapy ban we’ve got seen, whether at Westminster or Holyrood, has raised the identical issues.
“It is unattainable to legislate on this controversial area without trampling on basic human rights.”
