Oral Answers to Questions

Alan Brown Excerpts

Tuesday 29th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Robert Buckland]

I am glad that my hon. Friend declared his interest, as is appropriate. Many other Members of this House will be dog owners. I am a cat owner, so I declare that interest. Clearly, behind that, there is a very important point about the ways in which we can help to prevent the spread of this crime. As the Prime Minister said, this is often the underbelly of more organised and serious criminality, where profit is being made on the backs of the misery of not just the pets themselves, but their owners, who suffer great distress as a result of the theft.

[Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP)]

What steps he has taken to ensure the UK upholds its legal obligations under international treaties on human rights.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Robert Buckland)]

The United Kingdom has strong human rights protections within a comprehensive and well-established constitutional and legal system, and a long-standing tradition of ensuring that our rights and liberties are protected domestically and of fulfilling our international human rights obligations. We have put in place a combination of policies and legislation to give effect to the international human rights treaties that we have ratified. We have a strong record before the various UN treaty-monitoring bodies and fully participate in the relevant reporting processes.

[Alan Brown]

By contrast with what the Secretary of State just said, the Joint Committee on Human Rights recently published a report that concludes that his Department’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will restrict peaceful protest

“in a way that we believe is inconsistent with our rights.”

The report also singles out the provisions on noisy protests as

“neither necessary nor proportionate”.

With findings like those, will the Secretary of State reconsider his assertion that the Bill is compliant with the European convention on human rights?

[Robert Buckland]

I am happy to repeat the declaration that I made on the face of the Bill: its provisions are indeed compatible with the convention. As a former member of the Joint Committee, I well appreciate its work, but with respect, I wholly disagree with the analysis that it has produced. The balance between freedom of expression and other fundamental rights and the need to maintain order and protect the rights of other citizens going about their lawful business is properly struck in the Bill, which I commend strongly to the House.