Belgium joins push to reinterpret European human rights convention

Belgium and 26 other member states of the Council of Europe are calling for a review of the European Convention on Human Rights, arguing that it no longer adequately reflects today’s migration challenges. Asylum and Migration minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt confirmed the move on Wednesday.

The renewed initiative follows a letter sent in May by nine European leaders, including prime minister Bart De Wever, urging that the interpretation of the convention be brought more in line with current realities. In response, the Council of Europe drafted a proposal that was discussed at an informal meeting of ministers in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

On the sidelines of this meeting, Belgium and 26 other countries signed a joint declaration that urges a new framework for the convention. In addition to most eastern European and Scandinavian countries, the UK and Ukraine also joined the initiative.

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The signatories want to safeguard the right of states to deport "foreigners convicted of serious crimes" such as rape or drug trafficking, even if their families live in the host country. They argue that this right is sometimes restricted by the convention’s guarantee of "the right to respect for private and family life".

The countries are also seeking greater clarity on the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. They say it should be "constrained to the most serious issues in a manner which does not prevent states parties from taking proportionate decisions on the expulsion of foreign criminals".

"The law should not be divorced from societal evolutions"

In a press release, Van Bossuyt said the declaration did not affect the independence of the Court. "The law should not be divorced from societal evolutions," she said. "When interpretation clashes with the reality on the ground, support for the rule of law risks falling away."

She added that Belgium had no intention of weakening the Convention. "This is not an attack on the system, nor a demand to weaken any article of the ECHR, but an investment in the future of the Convention."

^{Belgian minister for Asylum and Migration Anneleen Van Bossuyt © PHOTO HANS LUCAS COLLECTION}

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