Does the UK need the European Court of Human Rights?

Does the UK need the European Court of Human Rights?

Chris Grayling (Justice Secretary) and Theresa May (Home Secretary) have recently announced a Conservative manifesto pledge to leave the European court of human rights, (ECHR) but what would that actually mean for the UK?  The ECHR is nothing to do with the EU it is a court that was established by the European convention of human rights.  If an individual feels that the state is infringing one of their rights given to them in European convention on human rights, they can take the state to the ECHR.

I don’t think anyone would argue against human rights being a good thing however the ECHR is often vilified in the right wing press.  For things such as Abu Hamza not be deported due to the ECHR, the court can make it difficult to deport asylum seekers and this is the court that wants to give prisoners the vote.  However, this does not negate the fact that the ECHR is a great protector of human rights across Europe.  It is also worth noting that in all the cases against the UK government the court has only ruled against the government in 2% of cases, however these cases do usually get reported leaving many angry at the court.

Despite claims from the left, you would not lose all your human rights if we were to leave the ECHR look at countries such as America and Australia their citizens are not being abused by the state.  It is true that the ECHR would no longer protect our rights, but either the human rights Act or if David Cameron gets his way a British bill of rights would protect our rights.  It would be our courts however rather than the ECHR which would make ruling on what is and what is not an infringement of our human rights based on the human rights Act or a bill of rights.  There is an argument that a government could get rid of the Human rights Act or a bill of rights however due to the fact that would be extremely unpopular and due to the fact the UK is proud of its record of standing up for human rights it would be unlikely to happen.  So to conclude although I believe that the ECHR is a fantastic institution and a staunch protector of human rights I do not believe our rights would be at risk if we left due to our own track record on human rights and our own courts independence and commitment to upholding human rights.