Planned changes to the Human Rights Act have been condemned as a “blatant, unashamed power grab from a government that wants to put themselves above the law”.
Campaigners are warning that the rights of ordinary people could be weakened by proposals that will be announced by Justice Secretary Dominic Raab on Tuesday.
Mr Raab argues that the measures will prevent “abuses of the system” by foreign criminals who exploit human rights laws to avoid deportation, by restricting the rights available to them.
The overhaul will also “allow more scope” to decide how the UK interprets rulings from the European Court of Human Rights, according to the Ministry of Justice.
It said the measures will “restore Parliament’s role as the ultimate decision-maker” on laws affecting the UK and aims to “strike a proper balance between individuals’ rights, personal responsibility and the wider public interest”.
But the human rights group Liberty accused the government of “systematically shutting down all avenues of accountability through a succession of rushed and oppressive Bills”.
Martha Spurrier, the organisation’s director, said the Human Rights Act is an “essential law” that allows public authorities to be challenged “when they get it wrong” and has helped “secure justice on everything from the right to life to the right to free speech”.
“This plan to reform the Human Rights Act is a blatant, unashamed power grab from a government that wants to put themselves above the law,” she said. “They are quite literally rewriting the rules in their favour so they become untouchable.”
She said the Act “protects all of us”, adding: “We lose it at our peril.”
Amnesty International said human rights are not “sweets” ministers can “pick and choose from” and the “aggressive” attempt to “roll-back” the laws needs to be stopped.
“If ministers move ahead with plans to water down the Human Rights Act and override judgments with which they disagree, they risk aligning themselves with authoritarian regimes around the world,” said chief executive Sacha Deshmukh.
Steve Reed, Labour’s shadow justice secretary, said senior figures from GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 have already warned that the government’s “politicised” changes to human rights law could “make the UK less safe by making it more difficult to fight terrorism”.
“Labour will oppose the Human Rights Act being ripped to shreds by a Conservative government planning to endanger the public by changing the rules to protect themselves,” he said.
The government said it estimates that up to 70% of successful human rights challenges are brought by foreign national offenders who cite a right to family life when appealing against deportation orders.
Under the proposals, a “permission stage” could be introduced for claims which would blocked if they were found to be “frivolous” or false.
A three-month consultation is expected to be launched on the changes to the Human Rights Act, which enshrined the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law.