7 March 2022 - Central England Law Centre (CELC) has today issued a formal response to the Ministry of Justice raising concerns about its proposed reforms to the Human Rights Act.

The consultation was launched by the UK government on 14th December 2021 following the Government-commissioned, Independent Human Rights Act Review (IHRAR), which considered options for reform.

The consultation seeks responses to the government’s proposals to replace the Human Rights Act – the law that protects the rights of everybody in the UK. In its consultation document ‘’Human Rights Act Reform: A Modern Bill of Rights” the government says its aim is to ‘update’ the act. However, the consesus from across civil society, academia and the legal profession is that the reforms put forward by the government go much further than the recommendation of the IHRAR.

The Law Society’s response is that it does ‘not believe there is a case for the sweeping reforms proposed’; Amnesty International asserts ‘these proposals would gut it’; and the Public Law Project states the proposals ‘bear little – if any – to the expert-led Independent Human Rights Act Review’.  Indeed, the former appeal judge who led the IHRAR told MPs he does not consider that the government’s consultation on reforming the 1998 legislation reflects his report.

CELC strongly opposes the reforms and seeks to express considerable concern about (i) the Consultation process itself; (ii) the specific proposals outlined; (iii) the rationale and evidence base provided in the Consultation Document for these; and (iv) the impact these would have, if implemented, on society in general and critically on the most vulnerable members of the communities CELC serves.

Read CELC’s response in full here.