Straw moves human rights one step closer

Civil liberties: Home secretary pledges 60 million

The home secretary, Jack Straw, last week signed the commencement order for the the Human Rights Act to come into force on 2 October, and announced that 60 million has been budgeted for an upturn in legal activity.'The deed is done', said Mr Straw as he signed the order, which paves the way for incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.

The Act gives UK courts the power to decide if existing legislation is incompatible with the convention.

Mr Straw said the Act was 'bringing back home' rights that UK lawyers had helped to draft after the second world war.

He said it was 'not expected to cause chaos in the courts'.Mr Straw insisted that the Act would be consistent with parliamentary sovereignty.

A provision of the Act ensures that legislation moving through parliament must be approved as being in accordance with the Act.Jane Kennedy, the parliamentary secretary in the Lord Chancellor's Department, said the government had set aside an additional 39 million for legal aid cases and 21 million for the courts to handle the anticipated upturn in work

Jeremy Fleming