LEGAL experts have dismissed claims Britain is bound to the European Convention on Human Rights because of the Good Friday Agreement.
They say it is “entirely groundless” to suggest Sir Keir Starmer cannot sever ties for fear of breaching the Northern Ireland peace deal.
Prof Ekins said: ‘Neither the letter nor the spirit of the agreement in any way requires the UK — or Ireland — to remain within the ECHR’
The PM is under pressure to leave the convention to help kick out illegal migrants and foreign criminals — but has refused to walk away.
The Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement largely ended decades of violence in the province.
The Policy Exchange report by constitutional law expert Prof Richard Ekins KC says debate has been distorted by the assertion that leaving the the ECHR would breach the peace accord.
It insists there is nothing in the GFA or the pact with the EU that prevents us from quitting.
The report says that one of the two agreements that make up the Good Friday deal does not even mention it.
The report adds that the second agreement refers to the ECHR but only in relation to Northern Ireland domestic law.
Prof Ekins said: “Neither the letter nor the spirit of the agreement in any way requires the UK — or Ireland — to remain within the ECHR.”
Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who was in government at the time of the peace process, endorsed the report.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says he would leave the ECHR and parts of the agreement could be renegotiated to remove reference to the human rights pact.
AFPLegal experts have dismissed claims Britain is bound to the European Convention on Human Rights because of the Good Friday Agreement[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
