Belfast Agreement
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that its legal obligations under the Good Friday Agreement are met when discussing Article 3 of the ECHR with European counterparts.
Answered by Jake Richards
This Government is committed to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). We are working with international partners to modernise the application of the ECHR, ensuring it remains effective in addressing challenges like illegal migration and cross-border crime. In any such discussions we are mindful of our wider legal obligations, including under the GFA.
On Article 3 of the ECHR, we are seeking to address the application of the prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment in expulsion and extradition cases, for example where it blocks removal because of prison conditions or access to healthcare abroad. This is entirely consistent with our obligations under the GFA.
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