The government should amend judges’ powers more broadly in response to the Hammerton v UK case, MPs and peers have said.
The government’s proposed Human Rights Act 1998 (Remedial) Order 2018 is intended to fix a rights gap highlighted in Hammerton 2016 (Application No 6287/10). There, a man was wrongly denied legal representation at his committal hearing for contempt of court and imprisoned for longer than he would otherwise have been. Since the judge acted in good faith, however, there was a statutory bar to financial compensation. Subsequently, the European Court of Human Rights found the UK in breach of Art 13 (right to an effective remedy).
In a report published this month, the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the government’s proposed order addresses the breach but ‘does so in a very narrow manner’ since it only relates to contempt of court proceedings.
The committee recommended that the order be broadened to include other circumstances where judicial acts in good faith breach a person’s Convention rights.
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