Increasingly bizarre court decisions taken under the guise of the European Convention of Human Rights, allowing murderers and rapists to avoid extradition on specious excuses are leading to pressure for reform.
The ECHR, agreed after World War 11 by Churchill, Adenauer, Mitterrand and others came into force on 3 September 1953 in part as a defence against Stalinism. Any person who feels their rights have been violated under the convention by a country can take a case to the court. Judgments are binding on the states concerned and they are obliged to execute them. Only Russia and Belarus are not signatories.
Recent cases have allowed criminals to stay in the UK because their removal might upset their children. Another in today’s Times refers to a murderer who was sentenced to 14 years in jail in Brazil for repeatedly raping a five year-old girl who fled to the UK before he could be convicted and was on Interpol’s most-wanted list. A British judge refused Brazil’s extradition request on the basis that it would violate his Article 3 rights.
It is clear it needs to be reformed or the UK Faragists will win the argument for a complete withdrawal. It came into effect when there was a fearsome Mars Pluto conjunction in Leo on the midpoint of Jupiter in Gemini trine Neptune Saturn in Libra – a curious mixture of enlightened thinking and bullying domination. The Saturn Neptune’s drive for better society backed up by an immoveable Mars Pluto. There is a Sun Mercury in Virgo and a 1st house caring Cancer Moon as well.
The central Trine has moved by Solar Arc to catch the tr Saturn Neptune square the Solar Arc Neptune Saturn in 2026/28; tr Pluto to square the SA Mars Pluto also in 2026/28 and tr Uranus square the SA Jupiter in 2026/27/28. Plus tr Pluto conjunct the 8th house North Node and then opposition the Venus so any changes will be hard fought and difficult to accomplish.
The UK’s relationship chart with the ECHR is being undermined by tr Neptune square the composite Mars exactly now and into 2026; alongside a major upheaval from tr Uranus conjunct the Pluto square Uranus through the winter into mid 2026. With further challenges from 2026 for several years with tr Pluto square the composite Neptune and then Sun and Venus.
There could be an exit late in the decade though only after protracted pressure for real change.
I think it might be worth also considering the UK Human Rights Act, 9th November 1998 which came into force on 2nd October, 2000. It incorporates ECHR rights and freedoms into British law. For the 1998 date the Sun 16 Scorpio and Venus 18 Scorpio were conjunct the UK’s 1801 Neptune, and trine its Cancer Moon. Jupiter was 18 Pisces, completing an emotional and possibly healing Grand Trine in Water. By October 2000 Venus was once again in Scorpio, but square Uranus 16 Aquarius – activating the Neptune square Venus 16 Aquarius in the UK chart. The deep emotions and financial themes of Neptune in Scorpio come up against a cool-headed Venus that cares for humanity but perhaps struggles with individual concerns?
The Human Rights Act 2000 date also has Saturn 0 Gemini trine Neptune 3 Aquarius. Tr Pluto and Uranus into Gemini may bring some changes or debate in the near future.
Sorry typo – should be £10m.
I admire the UK’s conscientious attitude and I don’t think British judges are afraid of the Court’s decisions but wish to be seen upholding the Convention which it was instrumental in setting up. Interestingly, while I was there there was a newspaper story quoting Cameron as complaining about the Court’s ‘interference’ in UK politics and how we should leave the Convention etc. However, this was clearly a sop to the right of his party as the very next day the UK donated a further £10mk to the Council of Europe (which administers the Court).
I agree with Jackie, Hugh and Lorna here. The ECHR only very very rarely finds against the UK. However, the UK seems very fearful of the ECHR and acts as if it possibly might be a breach of the convention. It is this abundant caution which causes problems. In addition it has taken the role of the EU as being the whipping boy to attract all the blame for things going wrong.
We need some education of what the EC H R does and how it works.
How this works with the astrology is difficult but if there is a culprit it is probably Neptune.
The UK always seems to abide by whatever the ECHR tells it to do .I know for sure when I worked in France ,they DON’T.
The UK needs to grow a backbone and stop being so naive and ‘conscientious’
I have always had the impression that France picks and chooses what it wants to obey in terms of EU regulations. If they don’t and get fined, they pay up and continue on their merry way. It is apparently British judges who appears so terrified of ECHR that they make these idiotic and damaging decisions.
The ECHR is a prime example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions. It has been ruthlessly exploited by bad actors in recent years and needs to be reformed or countries will increasingly abandon it. Of course a lot of the problems in the UK come from the increasingly bizarre way the British judiciary have chosen to interpret it. A bit like the argument over membership of the EU the problems lie not so much with the foreign institution but with the way the UK itself is organised and run. It would actually be interesting to examine some of the foundation astrological charts for the British legal system and look for reasons why it is failing so badly at the moment.
Astrologically like a lot of institutions created after the Second World War the ECHR will face pressure as the outer planets Neptune and Pluto slowly move to oppose their natal placements in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Interesting charts, thank you Marjorie.
Just because current application of law by ECHR is over-zealous or lacks common sense, doesn’t mean that universal human rights as a concept should be scrapped. It means they should be developed and evolved, with lessons learned.
It’s frankly terrifying how much of the media – an how many individuals – seemingly cannot differentiate between a mechanism for the human good, that has flaws that need correcting…. and a global populist far-right call for the wholesale scrapping of human rights law in favour of corporate control and dictatorship.
It’s happening in all western countries.Breaking down of public services and institutions, reason and sanity.In Canada, a man identifying as a woman -who still has male genitalia took a spa to court because the poor woman didn’t want to do a Brazilian wax.
Well, I used to work at the ECHR and I must say it is extraordinarily difficult to win a case there. There is, on average, a four year waiting list for applications which have to undergo intensive scrutiny before being accepted and the criteria are very tight. The UK has a sizeable department of lawyers there who are known for their fierce commitment to justice and their work ethic and it is they who prepare these UK applications for judgment.
The judges, however, will be from a different member state, in order to maintain impartiality.
When there, I and other UK people would often read press stories about the Court which seemed to portray it as a dogmatic but capricious institution full of mavericks intent on destroying the UK. We were amazed.
I must say that the integrity of everyone who works there is at the highest level and the institution operates at a forensic level of scrutiny and correctness. If there is anything to be criticised, it is precisely that. Unlike in domestic courts, the judges have no discretion to make an award outside the very precise parameters of the Articles of the Convention. They can’t have regard to personal circumstances or Government wishes.
Furthermore, when the Court hands down a judgment, it is up to the relevant country to act on the judgment. It cannot force a country to do so – it relies on the consensus of ethical dealing between all the member states.
Some countries are more punctilious than others and the UK is known for being very conscientious in its acceptance of the judgments and very quick to make amends, if needed.
International law is breaking down in many ways as it did in the Thirties. It came back stronger after 1945 as a manifestation of the new world order. It will have to be resurrected again in a new form after the upheaval of the next five years.