European Convention on Human Rights: 75th Anniversary

Lord Griffiths of Burry Port Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Griffiths of Burry Port (Lab)]

My Lords, I am a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and I am glad to begin my remarks by stating that bald fact. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Hale, that, if there were tick boxes for their speeches, I would put a tick in and sit down because I do not want to say any more than that.

There was a debate recently in Strasbourg, entitled, rather quaintly, “Multiperspectivity in the field of journalism”, which was all about how journalists can see the same facts and report two entirely different stories. I want to apply it now to the House of Lords: people see the same facts and draw entirely different narratives from them. I have always felt a bit fragile in your Lordships’ House, since I have no political experience and certainly no legal experience. Consequently, I listen to the debate in order to hear where things stand.

And multiperspectivity has marked this debate. In the political sphere, all I can say to the noble Lord, Lord Lilley, is that it is such a relief to me that two rows behind him sits the noble Earl, Lord Dundee, whose remarks on the Council of Europe and the convention were so positive. He has served with such distinction in Europe, and he is widely honoured for the contribution he has made to its affairs. So, there is multiperspectivity straight in my eye as I look across the Chamber.

Similarly on the legal arguments, we had all those debates about immigration during the tenure of the last Government. From the government side, the noble Lord, Lord Murray—who is here—was obliged by convention not to disclose what legal advice the Government were receiving, but he did a doughty job at the Dispatch Box. It was always difficult for me as a non-lawyer to hear distinguished lawyers on each side of the argument and then for those of us who stand listening to know how to make the distinctions we needed to make.

I have just joined the Constitution Committee, so the future of Britain is under threat.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Griffiths of Burry Port (Lab)]

But the rule of law is what we have set ourselves as our first project. Last week, I had breakfast at the Supreme Court. Never have I been surrounded by so many stars in the galaxy as I was then. I made the point that the United Nations charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European convention all have as Article 6 access to a fair trial.

I started my remarks on that occasion by stipulating that the architecture of my entire life has been built on the fact that, when I was five and a half years of age, a letter from my father’s solicitor to my mother indicated that, because she was the guilty party in their relationship, she should leave his client’s—my father’s—house within one week and take her children with her. My mother could not defend herself against that because she did not have two pennies to put together to get the legal counsel or support. In any case, the law was different then.

Out of that little exchange in the Supreme Court has come a magnificent response from one of the justices, who specialises in access to justice and brought out a report in 2016 about how to deal with people not having access to justice and wanting to have its recommendations implemented all these years later.

I look forward to the future—all those voices to listen to and all those cases to weigh up. I have to say that politicians should try a little harder, and the lawyers should try a little harder, to realise that not everybody is one of them.