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Challenge Over UK Bulk Hacking Powers Taken To European Court of Human Rights (vice.com)
Joseph Cox, reporting for Motherboard: On Friday, activist group Privacy International and five internet and communications providers lodged an application before the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the UK's use of bulk hacking powers abroad. "The European Court of Human Rights has a strong track record of ensuring that intelligence agencies act in compliance with human rights law. We call on the Court to hold GCHQ accountable for its unlawful bulk hacking practices," Scarlet Kim, legal officer at Privacy International, said in a statement. The application has been made with UK-based non-profit GreenNet, the Chaos Computer Club from Germany, Jibonet from South Korea, US internet service provider May First, and communications provider Rise Up. In 2014, Privacy International filed a complaint over the country's bulk hacking powers with the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal, a court which determines if public authorities have unlawfully used covert techniques. In February of this year, the IPT concluded that GCHQ's hacking was legal under the UK's Intelligence Service Act 1994. Privacy International is now challenging whether the UK's interpretation of the Intelligence Service Act for using bulk hacking powers complies with the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
UK to hold referendum on exiting the Human race. Being Human is just not that popular in majority of the world govts.
The European Convention on Human Rights and its associated court aren't EU institutions, so Brexit won't directly affect them. However, all EU member states are required to be signatories of the ECHR, so Brexit does mean that the UK could at some future point do things like withdrawing from the ECHR and repealing the Human Rights Act (which is the associated national law), while such actions are not permitted as long as the UK remains a member of the EU.
(Just to confuse the issue, there is also a separate Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which would typically be enforced in the European Court of Justice, which is one branch of the Court of Justice of the European Union. At least one other high profile case regarding the British government's surveillance powers, brought by two serving MPs no less, recently followed that path rather than relying on the ECHR. And to think, some people argue that European politics is overcomplicated...)
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
European Court of Human Rights is not a body of the EU. So Brexit has nothing to do with it one way or another.
To make the story even more complicated: the uk has opted out of the charter of fundamental rights: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...