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19 July 2012 / Roger Smith
Issue: 7523 / Categories: Opinion , Human rights
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The good, the bad & the ugly

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Roger Smith rounds up recent human rights developments

As we limp towards the summer holidays, the secretary of state for justice gives an end of term performance; the party season gets under way; and the Bill of Rights Commission knocks out another consultation.

Clarke in conversation

Ken Clarke was in typical form at a Justice question and answer event. His responses encompassed the good, the bad and the ugly. On the good side, the secretary of state defended the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). He revealed that he had been a bit “iffy” when the idea of the Human Rights Act had originally been mooted but was persuaded by Geoffrey Howe that it was a good idea. He continued to think that HRA 1998 had been wilfully misunderstood by the media and asserted that support was currently coalition policy—which is, as he knows full well, technically correct, though David Cameron and many other Tories are against HRA 1998. On the

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