Will Rwanda flights be blocked again?

Former top human rights judge says ‘not necessarily’

A former president of the European Court of Human Rights told me last night that the court would “not necessarily” stop the UK sending asylum-seekers to Rwanda if the government wins its appeal to the Supreme Court in the coming weeks.

I spoke to Robert Spano at the Law Society in London

Robert Spano was speaking in an interview sponsored by the international law firm Gibson Dunn, where he is now a partner.

These were the main points he made:

• Interim measures under the human rights convention are unequivocally binding on Member States.

• A state cannot remain a member of the Council of Europe if it withdraws from the convention.

• Adherence to the international rule of law is vital for business and trade.

• The application of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 risks the UK violating the human rights convention in certain cases.

The Home Office immigration minister Robert Jenrick said last month that the government would do “whatever is required” to tackle the problem of small boats crossing the English Channel — even if that meant pulling out of the European Convention on Human Rights. The former judge told me what implications that would have.

During the hour-long discussion, Spano also dismissed arguments put forward by Professor Richard Ekins KC (hon) in a recent paper for the think tank Policy Exchange.

I plan to analyse Spano’s comments in the Law Society Gazette on Friday and I will send readers the link as usual.

In the meantime, subscribers can hear the full interview by clicking the button below.