Political statement agreed by all 46 Council of Europe states could give them more leeway to carry out deportations
A political declaration aimed at clarifying key aspects of the European convention on human rights was published on Friday, agreed by all 46 member states of the Council of Europe.
Critics fear that it will weaken human rights protections for migrants. The ECHR system has become a political battleground, with both the Conservatives and Reform UK pledging to leave the convention if they are elected to government.
The Chișinău declaration, agreed in the Moldovan capital, is not legally binding but it does put the courts under significant pressure to apply the law more restrictively in asylum and immigration cases.
There is more “wriggle room” for the interpretation of key aspects of migrant-related human rights law. According to Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci, at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the declaration sends a signal to the ECHR and to domestic courts to interpret the convention in a way that addresses the political priorities of some states to make it easier to remove foreign nationals, even if there is a real risk of harm to them on return. He says this signal undermines the principles of universal human rights and equality before the law.
