Stop the Government’s Plans to Let Ministers Throw out Legal Rulings
The Government plans to restrict the use of judicial review and thus further curtail the power of the courts to overrule decisions by ministers. One of the options under consideration, and understood to have the support of No 10, is for MPs to pass an annual ‘Interpretation Bill’ to strike out findings from judicial reviews with which the government does not agree. 1
Using human rights law, a group of children in Portugal are taking 33 country governments to court to force leaders to address the effects of climate change and fulfil their promise to reduce harmful emissions.2 If anyone in the UK were to do the same, under the Law that this government is proposing, present and future UK governments could vote to ignore any court rulings that they disagree with. It would undermine our democracy by allowing one party government ministers to manipulate the law to serve their political agenda and make it effectively impossible for anyone to challenge it.
This petition is to ensure that the ‘Interpretation Bill’ never comes into law and that present and future Governments are held accountable for their actions.
Call for action: Sign the petition to stop the government’s attempt to create a law that allows ministers to cancel legal rulings. We have seen how ministers abuse the power they already hold, don’t let them give themselves more. Let’s not sleepwalk into losing our parliamentary democracy. Write to your MP to ask them to vote against the introduction of an Interpretation Bill.