Rishi Sunak insists European Court of Human Rights is 'fair' on UK migrant plans

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addresses the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, Iceland Photo: AP/Alastair Grant

Rishi Sunak demands reform European Court of Justice Human Rights Council (ECtHR) should be «fair» to the UK in relation to its plans to deport illegal migrants.

Prime Minister met with Siophra O'Leary, President of the Court, to directly address calling for changes to its rules to prevent a repeat of a last-minute «Rule 39» injunction, when a single judge blocked the first deportation flight to Rwanda at 11:00 last June.

They met in Reykjavik, Iceland, at the summit of the Council of Europe, a group of 46 countries that the UK played a key role in establishing at the end of World War II.

Looking ahead During the meeting, Mr. Sunak said: “We we want to make sure that the European Court always behaves fairly, efficiently, transparently, and this is the conversation I will have with the President of the European Court.

“The European Court of Justice is itself conducting an internal review of the so-called Rule 39 process – these are temporary decisions that the European Court of Justice has made in the past to prevent countries like ours from doing certain things – we want to make sure that the reform process is complete.”

The Prime Minister previously described Rule 39 procedures as «non-transparent», failing the «test of natural justice» and handed down by unnamed judges behind closed doors.

The government is also taking over authority on the Illegal Migration Bill, to Home Secretary Swella Braverman «the discretion» to disregard Rule 39 orders.

Mr Sunak said the UK had previously pursued a reform of the European Court of Human Rights that it would «build from now on». forward".

“The UK has extensive experience in conducting and participating in these negotiations. Winston Churchill was one of the founding fathers of the organization we are talking about today,” he said.

Countries must cooperate

He also reaffirmed the need for European countries to cooperate in solving a common problem. illegal migration and human trafficking. «I won't rest until I stop the boats and that's why I'm here,» said Mr. Sunak.

Speaking to TV companies, the prime minister also said that more than 8,000 illegal Albanian migrants had been returned to the country since the end of last year, when he agreed a new deal with the country's prime minister, Edi Rama.

He said the new the agreement with France also meant that cooperation was «intensified»: increased patrols on French beaches to stop migrants from leaving, more interceptions and greater intelligence sharing on smugglers.

In a separate meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Mr Sunak agreed to develop a new arrangement between UK agencies, including the Border Guard and Frontex, the EU Border Guard, to work together on joint small craft crossing operations. in the channel.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The UK and EU teams will now discuss the details and implementation of this new working agreement. The Prime Minister and President von der Leyen stressed that the UK and the EU have a common interest in fighting cross-border crime and human trafficking.»