Dominic Raab: I'll stop dangerous criminals abusing Human Rights Act 'to line their pockets'
Dominic Raab has pledged to stop dangerous offenders from "lining their pockets" with taxpayers' funds after a gangland killer was handed £15,000 compensation for being locked up with terror offenders.
The Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister said his human rights reforms would curb "abuses" of the system by dangerous offenders.
His intervention came after it emerged that Jemmikai Orlebar-Forbes, 28, won £15,000 from the Government following a claim for damages after he was segregated with terror offenders at HMP Frankland, a a high-security men's prison in Brasside, County Durham.
Orlebar-Forbes is serving a 31-year minimum term for his part in the murder of a rival drug dealer in 2013.
Orlebar-Forbes' claim against the Government sought, among other things, damages for a breach of Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights, which safeguards the right to private and family life.
'Human Rights Act promoted a perverse culture'
Mr Raab said: “The Human Rights Act has promoted a perverse culture, where dangerous offenders can line their pockets by bringing claims against those charged with keeping the public safe.
“Our reforms will curb those abuses and inject a healthy dose of common sense into the system, by strengthening Parliament’s ability to protect our security through legislation, and requiring the courts to limit compensation paid out to those who threaten public safety.”
In Orlebar-Forbes's case Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service accepted that it was wrong to segregate him in the prison's separation centre.
Officials said the Government settled outside court to avoid the risk of an even bigger bill to the taxpayer.
David Spencer of the Centre for Crime Prevention told The Sun, which revealed details of the payout last week: “It’s absurd the MoJ failed to even contest his claims.”
Mr Raab's plan for a new bill of rights includes overhauling the current system to give the UK Parliament a final say on interpreting judgments by the European Court of Human Rights, to prevent “perverse” consequences.
A further option would be to introduce an “ouster” clause, which could effectively override Strasbourg judgments.
Ministers believe the reforms will help to overturn a "rights culture", and that similar payouts to dangerous offenders could be avoided by plans to encourage judges to take into account the behaviour of claimants when deciding on payouts for criminals.
In future cases, the Government may therefore be more inclined to fight claims in court rather than simply settle out of a fear of "disproportionate" compensation payments being awarded by judges.
