European Court of Human Rights
Justice
Written answers and statements, 29 October 2009
John Hayes (- Shadow Minister (Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education), Universities and Skills; South Holland & The Deepings, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of cases resolved in the UK courts under the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998 in respect of which leave to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights might otherwise have been sought; and if he will make a statement.
Jack Straw (Lord Chancellor, Ministry of Justice; Blackburn, Labour)
It is not possible to appeal directly from proceedings in UK courts to the European Court of Human Rights. Proceedings at the European Court of Human Rights take the form of a new application against the United Kingdom under the European convention on human rights, which may or may not relate to proceedings before the domestic courts. It is not therefore possible to make a direct numerical estimate of the effect of the Human Rights Act in resolving cases that may otherwise have been considered by the European Court of Human Rights.