Top European judge is slammed after warning Rishi Sunak against ignoring Rwanda rulings
A FRESH row with Europe erupted today after a top judge warned Rishi Sunak not to ignore their rulings on Rwanda.
The President of the European Court of Human Rights ordered the PM to comply with any injunctions to stop migrant removal flights taking off.
Furious Tory MPs branded Siofra O’Leary’s intervention a display of “naked judicial activism”.
And Downing Street refused to back down this morning after weeks making clear Britain would overrule Strasbourg judges who try to block deportations to Kigali.
Mr Sunak has pledged to dismiss future Rule 39 orders if that is what it takes to send illegal migrants to Rwanda, hopefully by the spring.
Known as “pyjama injunctions” - because they are often handed down in the dead of night by anonymous ECHR judges - they scuppered the first initial flight in 2022.
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Despite the PM’s statement of intent, today the court’s president Ms O'Leary said "there is a clear legal obligation to comply with Rule 39 measures.
She said the interim measures are only issued “in exceptional circumstances where there is a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm”.
Her comments was met with a firm rebuke by No10 which doubled down on the intention to throw out the ECHR edicts.
Mr Sunak’s spokesman said they were “confident” the flagship Rwanda Bill is “compliant” with international law.
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He added: “Obviously every case is assessed on its individual facts, but the Prime Minister has been clear repeatedly that we will not let a foreign court block flights from taking off.”
However he dismissed growing calls from some Tory MPs to quit the ECHR altogether.
Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick today launched a stinging attack on Ms O’Leary’s remarks.
He said: “An international court only has the powers that member states confer on it.
“The UK and other signatories expressly refused to give the Strasbourg court the power to make binding interim measures back in 1949. This is naked judicial activism.”
The Rwanda Bill will come to the House of Lords on Monday, where Mr Sunak faces a fight to get it past rebellious peers.
WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE RWANDA PLAN?
What is the Rwanda Bill?
The Rwanda Bill ignores certain human rights laws in a radical bid to get deportation flights going and end the “scourge” of illegal migration.
The plan will disapply elements of the Human Rights Act which would have exposed the government to more relentless legal delay.
By also declaring in law that Rwanda is “safe”, ministers believe courts will be forced to throw out any challenges to their flagship scheme.
The bill will also let ministers override European Court of Human Rights edicts to block planes from taking off, like the one grounded at the last minute in 2022.
What happens next?
Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill has cleared its final Commons hurdle, meaning it has now progressed to the House of Lords where peers will scrutinise the legislation.
Will the Lords put up a fight?
Peers have already begun trying to water down the legislation. Many have made clear their disdain for the Rwanda plan, with arch-critic Lord Carlile already admitting he and many colleagues will try to sink it. Mr Sunak also lacks a majority in the Lords, and even if he did, peers - usually unbothered about climbing the political ladder - are far less likely to toe the party line.
So is it game over?
No. The will of the elected Commons trumps that of the unelected Lords. This means that while peers can totally gut the Rwanda Bill and send it back to MPs in a weakened form, the government can overrule these changes and throw it back to the Lords as they first voted for it. This back and forth - known as ping pong - can only happen so much before the peers cave and MPs get their way.
So what’s the problem?
By tabling relentless changes to the Bill, the Lords can grind up the whole process and ultimately push back Mr Sunak's hope of getting the first flights off by the spring.
What has the PM said?
Mr Sunak last week fired a warning shot at the unelected peers not to stand in the way of MPs to thwart the vital Rwanda plan.