Baroness Hale
Credit: Roger Harris

Her comments come as rhetoric around withdrawal of the ECHR intensifies. Kemi Badenoch announced at Conservative Party Conference that under her leadership the Conservatives would exit the ECHR if they won the next election.

In the latest episode of Shami’s Speakeasy, Baroness Hale said: “I have spoken up in favour of the European Convention on Human Rights…. I think it would be a disaster for Europe… it’s one of the greatest achievements of European civilisation since the Second World War. The Convention put into language, quite simple language, the rights which everybody ought to have.”

She argues that the Rwanda Bill’s exclusion of certain people from access to those rights was “wrong in so many ways”, adding: “You can restrict rights, but you can’t exclude people from access to the courts altogether. Staying in the Convention and keeping to the principles is incredibly important.”

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, introduced by the previous government, sought to declare Rwanda a “safe country” in law and to prevent courts from considering human rights challenges to deportations. The Bill was defeated in the House of Lords and fell when Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 2024 general election.

Baroness Hale’s book With the Law on Our Side, an “accessible guide to the law, told through stories from every part of the justice system” is out now.

Shami’s Speakeasy launched on 1 October with a double episode featuring Nicola Sturgeon and Gary Younge and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all major platforms.