Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD

Given the UK Govt's deeply concerning & increasingly antidemocratic & authoritarian tendencies, concerned citizens need to better understand the European Convention on Human Rights - & know that it was driven by Britons in the aftermath of WWII.

eachother.org.uk/wrote-european…

Some talk about the ECHR as if it is a bad thing, imposed on the unwilling British by our European neighbours. This is profoundly misleading & insulting to previous generations fighting in & affected by WWII which was started by the leader of an antidemocratic authoritarian Govt.

In the early 1940s, British PM Winston Churchill raised the idea of a ‘Council of Europe’.

In the wake of WWII & the horrors of the #Holocaust, the idea behind the Council of Europe was to set up an international organisation to promote democracy, the rule of law & human rights.

Churchill's vision was for a post-war Europe united by common rights & freedoms, with a shared commitment to these principles:

"It is for the life & liberty of the individual, for the fundamental rights of man, now menaced & precarious in so many lands, that peoples tremble."

Despite losing the 1945 General Election, Churchill remained an influential figure, becoming Chair of the newly-formed United Europe Movement.

"In the centre of our movement stands the idea of a Charter of Human Rights, guarded by freedom & sustained by law." - Churchill, 1948

The Council was established by ten states, including the UK, on 5 May 1949.

These men of dialogue, who had lived through two world wars, were the pioneers of a Europe of peace founded on the values of human rights, democracy, & the rule of law.

“The dangers threatening us are great, but great too is our strength, & there is no reason why we should not succeed in… establishing the structure of this united Europe whose moral concepts will be able to win the respect & recognition of mankind…” Churchill, 12th August 1949.

The Council of Europe started creating a human rights convention. Again, Winston Churchill was an advocate:

“In the centre of our movement stands the idea of a Charter of Human Rights, guarded by freedom & sustained by law.”

It was named the European Convention on Human Rights.

One of the key writers of the European Convention on Human Rights was British Conservative MP & lawyer David Maxwell-Fyfe, who during his political career served as Attorney General, Home Secretary, & Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

Maxwell-Fyfe was one of the prosecuting counsels at the Nuremberg Trials, & subsequently his contribution to the European Convention on Human Rights was so great that he has been described as “the doctor who brought the child to birth”.

lawscot.org.uk/members/journa…

Maxwell-Fyfe was also involved in drafting the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Another important British player was Liberal Party politician, editor & newspaper proprietor Lord Layton - Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Others with important roles in getting the Convention into shape included Labour's Ernest Bevin (UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs), Conservative Harold MacMillan (who went on to serve as Prime Minister), & Conservative Samuel Hoare (Home Office under-secretary).

Maxwell-Fyfe & other international lawyers started preparatory work on the Convention & a special section of the Council of Europe was created to produce a first draft.

In early 1950, the experts struggled to agree on the text & so they produced two versions of the Convention.

During drafting there were fierce debates about the content of the Convention.

One debate centred on whether the rights should just be listed or fully defined. The UK argued strongly in favour of definition. Samuel Hoare worked to ensure that the rights were precisely defined.

On legal enforcement, Maxwell-Fyfe said:

“We cannot let the matter rest at a declaration of moral principles & pious aspirations, excellent though the latter may be. There must be a binding convention, & we have given you a practical & workable method of bringing this about.”

Given the Rwanda Plan, it is notable that it was finally agreed that states could decide whether or not to give individuals the right to complain to the European Court of Human Rights & whether or not to accept the Court’s jurisdiction, which states could choose to accept or not.

The text of the Convention & the finished draft was considered in September 1950 & the European Convention on Human Rights was signed in Rome on 4 November 1950.

The UK was the first signatory to the Convention, & the Convention entered into force on 3 September 1953. 🇬🇧

In November 1958, the argument over the optional clauses giving the European Court on Human Rights jurisdiction & individuals the right to petition the ECHR was re-introduced to the UK Parliament.

“The right of individual petition is perhaps the most fundamental” - Lord Layton.

Eventually, in 1966 the UK accepted the optional clauses. In 1998, Protocol 11 to the Convention made the right of individual petition compulsory. @Conservatives questioning the ECHR must know that an ideal of Europe united by democracy & human rights was championed by Churchill.

The Charter of Human Rights Churchill envisioned became known as the European Convention on Human Rights. It protects the right to life, to liberty & security of person, to free speech, to a fair trial, to free & fair elections & to freedom from torture, slavery & discrimination.

Over the course of history, dictators, autocrats, & authoritarian Govts have regularly tried to avoid the rule of law.

Authoritarian & autocratic leaders always seek to avoid inconvenient legal constraints & judgements.

Even considering ignoring #ECHR rulings shames Britain. 🇬🇧

The Nuremberg Trials were held to bring justice for the millions who lost their lives to the Nazi’s. How do we ensure that something like this never happens again? The European Convention of Human Rights.

Lessons from Nuremburg must NEVER be forgotten.🙏

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1519679470306828288?s=20&t=vnAYMQ6hC_OqzRhQ1Q4v6A

#ECHR explainer.