Owen Paterson sues UK in human rights court over lobbying scandal | Owen Paterson
Owen Paterson, the former MP at the center of a lobbying scandal that has engulfed Boris Johnson’s government, is taking the UK to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the finding that he breached several times the rules on paid advocacy.
Paterson, a prominent Brexiter who also once argued that the UK should ‘break free’ from the ECHR, filed his case on the grounds that his right to privacy had been breached under the Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
His case was brought against the UK government, after the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found Paterson had breached the code of conduct for MPs by misusing resources, engaging in paid lobbying and failing to disclose his interests.
She also found that he failed to show the selflessness and integrity that were part of the tenets of public life.
Evidence of Paterson lobbying was originally discovered by the Guardian. Randox, a healthcare company, paid the former Northern Ireland secretary £100,000 a year to be its consultant. He was found to have repeatedly lobbied ministers on behalf of Randox and another firm which had paid him in breach of rules banning MPs from paid lobbying.
After the report, MPs on the standards committee recommended a 30-day suspension, which Johnson’s government originally intended to oppose by trying to change the rules on standards inquiries. However, the then Prime Minister backed down after a political outcry and Paterson’s suspension was approved by the House of Commons in a decision that cannot be challenged.
The sordid row surrounding the case is seen as the first in a series of controversies that engulfed Johnson’s government and ultimately led to its downfall.
Paterson then resigned from his position in November 2021, saying the experience had been an “unspeakable nightmare” for his family. The former MP has previously blamed the standards investigation process for being a contributing factor in the suicide of his 40-year-old wife, Rose.
His application to the Human Rights Tribunal complains that his Article 8 rights have been violated, as “the public discovery that he had breached the code of conduct damaged his good reputation and that the process by which the allegations against him were investigated and reviewed was unfair in many fundamental respects”.
Paterson was also tentatively found to have breached transparency rules by failing to register as a lobbyist for the health care company as the clerk gave a notice of intent to impose a civil penalty.
However, in a recent update, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists issued a decision notice saying Paterson did not in fact break the rules because he fell below the registration threshold to pay VAT. In a technical detail of the legislation, only VAT-registered lobbyists are required to declare their clients and their lobbying activities.
The investigation found: “It is likely that the three communications would otherwise have been recordable [as consultant lobbying] if the payment had been made to an entity subject to VAT. However, as the payment was not made to a VAT registered entity, they were not registrable and Mr Paterson was not, at the time, undertaking any consultancy lobbying activity for the purposes of the law.
A Council of Europe spokesperson said: “Applications communicated to the respondent government are those which have been notified to the respondent governments but have not yet been declared admissible or closed. The court may request factual information or observations, or inform the government that their observations are not required if the request concerns well-established case law. The claimant in the case is simply referred to as OP.
Number 10 said he was aware of Paterson’s case but did not comment. Paterson was also approached for comment.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “I am aware of the legal action related to the ECHR. As this is a legal action, I cannot comment at this stage, but we will respond in the usual way.
The court also asked UK authorities to respond to a second complaint, filed by former Labor peer Nazir Ahmed, who was imprisoned in February for aggravated sexual assault on a boy and attempted rape of a young girl in the 1970s.
The former member of the House of Lords complains of an infringement of his right to respect for private and family life and complains of discrimination.