While most EU laws will be copied and pasted into UK law after Brexit (as stated in the EU Withdrawal Bill) there is one piece of legislation which will almost certainly not be included: the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The Charter brings together all the personal, civic, political, economic and social rights enjoyed by people within the EU in a single text.

But in June 2018 it was decided that the Charter would not be incorporated into UK law after Brexit. So, as Amnesty International UK asks:

If this is simply a cut and paste job as the government says, then why is the only thing they are leaving behind our rights protection?

On 13 February 2019, UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox claimed in parliament that Britain has received demands from some countries to reduce its human rights standards in return for progress on post-Brexit trade deals. Answering questions on his department’s progress towards striking trade deals, Dr Fox said:

Some countries have said that they didn’t like, for example, the human rights elements that were incorporated by the EU and they would like us to drop those in order to roll the agreements over. I am not inclined to do so. The value we attach to human rights is an important part of who we are as a country

More information

Hansard transcript of the debate on 13 February

Oxford Human Rights Hub article on decision not to include the EU Charter in UK law after Brexit

British Institute of International and Comparative Law analysis of the EU Charter and Brexit

Article in Guardian 13 February 2019 on Liam Fox’s speech.

Amnesty International UK‘s articles on Brexit

Liberty‘s articles on Brexit