European Union (Withdrawal) Bill — Clause 5 — EU Charter of Fundamental Rights — 16 Jan 2018 at 16:00

Heather Wheeler MP, South Derbyshire voted against retaining a EU "Charter of Fundamental Rights" as part of UK law following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

The majority of MPs voted against retaining the European Union "Charter of Fundamental Rights" as part of United Kingdom law following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. The proposal rejected in this vote was to retain the charter with amendments relating to its enforcement and the exception of the preamble and the element setting out the rights of European Union citizens in connection with voting, standing as a candidate, access to information, free movement, good administration, appeals, petition and consular protection.

Clause 5 of the Bill[2] excluded the charter from retention as United Kingdom law following withdrawal.

MPs were considering the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill[1].

The amendment rejected in this vote was:

  • Amendment 4, page 3, line 23, leave out subsections (4) and (5) and insert—
  • ‘(4) Notwithstanding subsection (5), the Charter of Fundamental Rights continues to apply to retained EU law after exit day save as set out in subsections (5) and (5A) below and all references in the Charter to “the law of the Union” shall be deleted and replaced with “retained EU law”.
  • (5) The following provisions of the Charter shall not apply after exit day—
  • (a) the Preamble, and
  • (b) Title V.
  • (5A) Article 47 of the Charter shall apply after exit day as if it was drafted as follows—
  • “Right to a fair trial
  • “Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by retained EU law are violated is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented.
  • “Legal aid shall be made available to those who lack sufficient resources insofar as such aid is necessary to ensure effective access to justice.”
  • (5B) With effect from exit day EU retained law, so far as it is possible to do so, must be interpreted consistently with the Charter.
  • (5C) With effect from exit day decisions, judgments, advisory opinions of the Court of Justice of the European Union must be taken into account when determining cases under the Charter.
  • (5D) With effect from exit day in relation to the rights conferred by the Charter with respect to retained EU law—
  • (a) section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998 shall apply and the words “a Convention right” shall be replaced by “a Charter right” and all references to “primary legislation” shall be replaced by “retained EU law”,
  • (b) section 5 of the Human Rights Act 1998 shall apply,
  • (c) section 12 of the Human Rights Act 1998 shall apply and the words “the Convention right to freedom of expression” shall be replaced by “the Charter right to freedom of expression and information”, and
  • (d) section 13 of the Human Rights Act 1998 shall apply and the words “the Convention right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” shall be replaced by “the Charter right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”.
  • (5E) With effect from exit day, any derogation or reservation made under sections 14 or 15 of the Human Rights Act 1998 shall apply to rights under the Charter in the same manner as they apply to Convention rights.
  • (5F) With effect from exit day sections 16 or 17 of the Human Rights Act 1998 shall apply to rights under the Charter in the same manner as they apply to Convention rights.”

The rejected amendment was accompanied by the following explanatory statement:

  • This amendment would retain the Charter Rights in UK law and afford them the same level as protection as the rights in the Human Rights Act.

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Debate in Parliament |

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Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (No)Minority (Aye)BothTurnout
Con307 (+2 tell) 1098.1%
DUP9 0090.0%
Green0 10100.0%
Independent1 3080.0%
Lab0 244 (+2 tell)095.0%
LDem0 11091.7%
PC0 40100.0%
SNP0 350100.0%
Total:317 299096.6%

Rebel Voters - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
Kenneth ClarkeRushcliffewhilst Con (front bench)aye

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