The European Court of Human Rights is hugely important. From the right to an education to the right to vote, it covers and protects all aspects of our lives. The idea of losing it cause of some lies about “boat people” is terrifying and the effect on our lives untold.
Can someone explain how exactly the ECHR protects us? Or anyone for that matter? The ECHR doesn't make laws in our country, that's just not how government works here. And I don't think it makes laws anywhere else either. So what exactly does it do and how does it do it?
As I see it, it’s like workers rights…a lot of people are like “I don’t need rights cause I don’t know anyone that’s died at work”. People haven’t died at work because we have those rights.
So basically complaints are make to the ECHR by individuals from states that have signed up to it. They hear the case and issue a judgement on whether they think a violation has occured. But they don't stop bad laws behind passed. They will only hear a case after the fact. Cheers.
If you sign up to the ECHR you are saying that you will secure the rights defined under it within your jurisdiction; that's Article 1. So it doesn't make the laws, but it requires that they be made.
The European Court of Human Rights enforces the European Convention on Human Rights, which is an internationally treaty that was ratified in the UK in 1951 (with enthusiastic support from Churchill). It lists a bunch of fundamental rights.
In 1998, the UK passed the Human Rights Act, which provides these protections under domestic law, with the European court acting as a backstop.
Max Robbespear did a video of someone giving one good example of why the ECHR is important to you as an individual in a country. The TLDR was that those from the Hillsborough disaster were able to gain justice only by making an appeal through the ECHR process. They were being walked over by an oppressive government.
Incorporatoon in the ECHR is an explicit tenet of the good Friday agreement. They cant pull us out without undermining that agreement, which would result in eye-watering sanctions from America and Europe.
(And also in any normal timeline - political ostracation. Although burning everything to the ground seems to be quite a popular policy these days.)