Attorney General's remarks to the Venice Commission.
On 6 December 2024, the Attorney General Lord Hermer KC delivered remarks at the Venice Commission on the rule of law.
Thank you, Madame President. It is an immense privilege to have the opportunity to address you all this morning.
Resetting the UK’s relationship with Europe is one of my Government’s top policy priorities. Proactively and unequivocally supporting the international legal order, and the institutions, such as this Commission, on which it depends, is another of the Government’s top priorities.
So, I come to speak to you this morning to reiterate my Government’s commitment to the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law – the values of the Council of Europe which the Venice Commission has a key role in promoting.
This Commission has much expertise not only in promoting the rule of law and democracy, but in the relationship between those two fundamental European values. In the Introduction to its Rule of Law Checklist, the Commission explains that the rule of law is intrinsically connected with democracy:
“The rule of law promotes democracy by establishing accountability of those wielding public power and by safeguarding human rights, which protect minorities against arbitrary majority rules.”
I wholeheartedly agree with this crucial insight – and I consider there has rarely been a more important time to promote it. We face significant challenge.
The Venice Commission is an embodiment of the appreciation of the paramount importance of protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law, but it is essential to acknowledge that our shared values are not universally cherished and indeed are under attack on our continent in a way not seen for decades – at the very time we need them most.
We face manifest challenges in our home countries and globally. Some are long standing threats this continent has seen before - political extremism, economic inequality and armed conflict. Others though are new, profound and complex - whether it be the development of AI, the threat of climate change, or increased mass migration.
Whether new challenges or old, we need functioning global cooperation, underpinned by a strong commitment to the rule of law, to even begin to tackle them.
But at a time when there is a desperate need for cooperation and solutions, we are increasingly confronted by the divisive and disruptive force of anti-democratic populism. We face leaders who see politics as an exercise in division, leaders for whom the values of rule of law, democracy and human rights are targets to be undermined, and the institutions which seek to support them as objects to be vilified.
The voice of these forces is now magnified many times over by the power of social media, by the deployment of algorithms that spread misinformation, sow division and create mistrust of institutions with a speed and intensity that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago.
It is my view that our European democracies need to take immediate steps to build and secure the rule of law’s long-term resilience in the face of threats, known and unknown, in both our domestic and international systems. But how do we do this?
Let me respectfully suggest 6 steps.
First, I believe we need to work to restore and strengthen the central importance of the rule of law as a democratic value, both in our own countries and globally. And I think the work of the Venice Commission, not least its Rule of Law Checklist, is a fundamental step towards this.
Updating the Checklist, in the light of its comprehensive review, is a significant opportunity to renew the pan-European consensus about the meaning and importance of the rule of law, and to strengthen it to ensure that it is fit for purpose in addressing contemporary challenges for the rule of law which include AI, private power, and climate change.
Second, to bolster the democratic resilience of the rule of law, we need to be clearer about the important roles of the democratic branches in upholding and promoting the rule of law. In democracies, it is important that the rule of law is not left solely to courts to uphold.
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In democracies, the executive and legislative branches also have very important roles to play in upholding the rule of law.
In my recent lecture, The Rule of Law in an Age of Populism, I spoke about strengthening the UK Parliament’s role in upholding the rule of law, for example by improving legislative standards – the minimum requirements that should be observed when making law.
The Commission’s Rule of Law Checklist recognises that a commitment to a substantive conception of the rule of law means that the process for making law must meet certain minimum standards in order to ensure that the outcome of that process is compatible with the rule of law.
That is an area of the Checklist that I venture to suggest would benefit from updating, to introduce more detailed reference to European standards on good democratic law-making.
I note the excellent work done by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in producing its recent Guidelines on Democratic Lawmaking for Better Laws, drawing together many of those standards, and I hope that this Commission can work together with ODIHR to strengthen this important part of the Checklist.
Third, coming together to exchange views, international experiences, and to coalesce around shared commitments to the rule of law, democracy and human rights will further this project.
And we are fortunate that there are many multilateral forums in which this kind of constructive dialogue can be had. As we approach the 35th Anniversary of the Venice Commission, I commend it for its great work on this front, not only for what it has created here today, but for what it does throughout the year to move the dial on ensuring that systems, and the indicators we measure these against, are fit for purpose to adequately address profound social changes, such as globalisation and technological advancements, which can undermine democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
To take forward this dialogue, I look forward to exploring the possibility of a follow up in London next year to the event the UK Government co-convened with the Venice Commission in 2012 on the ‘Rule of Law as a Practical Concept’.
That takes me to my Fourth point, looking closer to home, it is important that we as lawyers, judges, parliamentarians and academics, do not keep the conversation to ourselves.
We must proactively promote a rule of law culture amongst the public, not least young people – seeking to use it to rebuild trust in our democratic systems by explaining how the rule of law serves all of us and that no-one, least of all politicians, are above it.
Since I took office, this has been a key priority of mine as I believe strongly that the participation of citizens in the strengthening of the rule of law is paramount. It is this that will create the enabling environment for the rule of law to flourish on every level.
The challenge for us all is to take conversations about the rule of law out of the exclusive domain of the conference hall and the university seminar – from the Scuola to the Square. We need to engage in active public debate, including on social media platforms, explaining in accessible but non-patronising language how the rule of law works for all our interests in all aspects of our lives.
It is the responsibility of all Ministers, but in particular, in the UK, I work closely with the Lord Chancellor who has a specific responsibility in safeguarding the rule of law, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, to ensure that we practice what we preach. There is little point in advocating to others about rule of law standards if we do not ourselves respect them.
Fifth – we need to be loud and clear in expressing that human rights are an essential element of the rule of law and of stable democratic culture. As well as recognising and protecting the dignity of all, they guarantee the essential rights and freedoms which should underpin legitimate democratic systems. As rightly stated in the Venice Commissions Rule of Law Checklist, “the Rule of Law would just be an empty shell without permitting access to human rights”.
Sixth, we need to reiterate that international law is a crucial part of the European conception of the rule of law, at the heart of the Venice Commission’s mission. International law is not simply some kind of optional add-on, with which States can pick or choose whether to comply.
It is central to ensuring prosperity and security for all citizens. I am delighted to be part of a UK Government once again fully committed not just to compliance with international law but seized of the importance of its promotion. I am also proud to be part of a new government able to once again seek to be a champion of the European Convention on Human Rights and which wants to return to playing a positive, constructive leadership role in the Council of Europe.
The message that I hope I have managed to convey this morning is that full achievement of the rule of law remains an on-going task, even in the well-established democracies. And to shore up the rule of law against the challenges we face both at home and internationally, we must emphasise its importance as an idea that underpins democracy and that unites, rather than divides, us.
The work to rebuild a democratic consensus around these shared values will not be easy, but by working together I believe we can ensure their resilience for future generations of Europeans.