Overview

• Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood addressed the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg, urging the European Convention on Human Rights to evolve by tightening Article 8 to prevent foreign criminals from using family life claims to avoid deportation.
• The UK government plans to introduce domestic legislation clarifying Article 8’s threshold for “exceptional circumstances” and strengthening the public interest test to accelerate removal of convicted foreign nationals.
• Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset has rejected any efforts to weaken the convention, warning that trimming the ECHR would undermine the legal protections it provides across member states.
• Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has set tests for UK law supremacy that could prompt withdrawal from the ECHR if reforms fail, and Reform UK remains committed to quitting the convention to tackle the small boats crisis.
• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has initiated a review of Article 3 applications in extradition cases as ministers face a 45% rise in Channel crossings, with more than 16,500 arrivals so far this year increasing pressure for change.