Yes, I do have a lot to say on the topic, ichkeria, because I consider some of the decisions made under Human Rights legislation to be among the great scandals of our time.
I’m sorry if you think I’m twisting your words. I really didn’t know how else to interpret “...it is worth considering whether he would not pose a greater risk to the UK - and other countries - were he to return to Somalia.” Presumably you meant “as opposed to remaining here”, hence my remarks.
Yes, it is extending the HRA to operate worldwide. The UK government is not operating policies of torture or persecution in cases where they are trying to legitimately deport a convicted criminal to a country that might be unsafe. But it is being accused of Human Rights transgressions as if it were. It has everything to do with the HRA because appeals are made (and are usually successful) under the deliberately vague provisions of the HRA such as “right to a family life” (whatever that should mean).
The matter of extradition is completely different. In my view the government should be more careful about what extradition treaties it signs and with whom. But if such treaties are agreed they are done so by the UK government with agreement of the UK Parliament. Such legislation should not be trumped by a wooly “catch all” piece of law which prevents more specific legislation from being enacted.
The issue of deportations is not the only one where normal law seems to be suspended. In planning law, for example, rules which we must all adhere to are somehow suspended to protect some people’s “Human Rights”. This was not the intention of the architects of the ECHR, hence my contention that some of the interpretations are scandalous.
In answer to your question, Sandy, no the protection would probably not stand without our HRA. So murderers from the USA (not, what I would consider to be a “rogue state” when it comes to justice) elope to the UK to escape the due punishment of their own courts. What happens if judges here suddenly decide that incarceration for 99 years (a popular disposal in US States where the death penalty is not available) is somehow “degrading” or “inhuman”. It is not for us to protect people from the wrath of the US courts any more than I would expect other nations to protect them from ours (even though the wrath of our courts may not be quite so severe).
I’m off for a Ruby now.