ABSTRACT
By making the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) directly justiciable in UK courts, the Human Rights Act of 1998 promised to extend the scope of protection available to migrants fleeing violence and persecution. Article 3 of the ECHR explicitly prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Human Rights Act, in conjunction with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, formally extends protection to those tortured for non-Refugee Convention reasons, to those persecuted by non-State actors and – perhaps most importantly – offers, unlike the Refugee Convention, absolute protection. Article 3 can not be derogated from for any reason.1
