We taught Europe what liberty means
In Strasbourg last week, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights found, by a majority of 16-1, that this country operates an inhumane and degrading prison regime. The case was brought by three multiple murderers who said the decision to keep them in jail for the rest of their lives without hope of release was a breach of their rights. Of the judges who reached this verdict, just one – Paul Mahoney – was from the UK.
So was his the lone dissenting voice? Did our judge tell his colleagues, six of whom grew up under communist dictatorships, that, far from being a country that routinely abuses the rights of the individual, this was the bedrock of liberty that his colleagues were seeking to traduce, the home of Magna Carta?
Unfortunately not: Judge Mahoney “unreservedly” subscribed to the court’s conclusions. It fell to Mark Villiger from Liechtenstein to enter the only objection. He was satisfied that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal had properly examined the matter and had concluded that, in some extreme cases, it was justifiable to impose whole life sentences on the grounds of punishment and deterrence.
Is it not extraordinary that just one of the 17 judges trusted the British courts to ensure that the rights of prisoners were upheld? After all, it is our judicial and parliamentary systems that for centuries observed the very rights and freedoms now enshrined in the European Convention, while much of the continent laboured under the yoke of despotism, in some cases until just a short time ago.
Magna Carta, in which these rights were first set out, is the foundation document of our democracy. But it also paved the way for the freedoms enjoyed today across the world, including in countries such as Serbia, Latvia and Georgia, whose judges this week found against the UK in Strasbourg.
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Read more: www.telegraph.co.uk
So was his the lone dissenting voice? Did our judge tell his colleagues, six of whom grew up under communist dictatorships, that, far from being a country that routinely abuses the rights of the individual, this was the bedrock of liberty that his colleagues were seeking to traduce, the home of Magna Carta?
Unfortunately not: Judge Mahoney “unreservedly” subscribed to the court’s conclusions. It fell to Mark Villiger from Liechtenstein to enter the only objection. He was satisfied that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal had properly examined the matter and had concluded that, in some extreme cases, it was justifiable to impose whole life sentences on the grounds of punishment and deterrence.
Is it not extraordinary that just one of the 17 judges trusted the British courts to ensure that the rights of prisoners were upheld? After all, it is our judicial and parliamentary systems that for centuries observed the very rights and freedoms now enshrined in the European Convention, while much of the continent laboured under the yoke of despotism, in some cases until just a short time ago.
Magna Carta, in which these rights were first set out, is the foundation document of our democracy. But it also paved the way for the freedoms enjoyed today across the world, including in countries such as Serbia, Latvia and Georgia, whose judges this week found against the UK in Strasbourg.
.....................................
Read more: www.telegraph.co.uk
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