ECHR exit ‘would breach Good Friday Agreement’

The UK government would knowingly be in breach of the Good Friday Agreement if it withdrew from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), MPs have been told.

The ECHR is a treaty which sets out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in 46 signatory countries and is overseen by the European Court of Human Rights.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee took evidence on the potential impact of ECHR withdrawal on NI.

It has published a summary of that evidence in a letter to the secretary of state.

The ECHR is separate to the European Union - so the UK remained part of it after Brexit.

The committee acknowledges the government's current position that the UK will remain a party to the ECHR.

Northern Ireland 'overlooked' in ECHR debate

However, the context for the letter is the call among some Conservative MPs to withdraw from the ECHR or hold a referendum on withdrawal.

The committee said: "Given the convention is embedded in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, written into the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and determines how the Northern Ireland Assembly legislates, we note that Northern Ireland is often overlooked whenever the prospect of ECHR withdrawal is raised."

The evidence it heard from legal experts included analysis that withdrawal would affect cross-border collaboration in criminal investigations and have other practical implications for policing.

The experts also said it is unlikely the UK could withdraw from the ECHR without triggering a review procedure built into the Good Friday Agreement.

If so, the UK and Irish governments, as parties to the Agreement, would be required to conduct a review in consultation with the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Committee chairman Sir Robert Buckland said: "Given the imminent Prorogation of Parliament, I wanted on behalf of my committee to put these points and concerns on the record.

"So this and the next administration, and others with an interest in human rights law in this country, might understand clearly the UK-wide context – the context of both Great Britain and Northern Ireland – in which the ECHR operates."