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Ben Keith, barrister at 5 St Andrew’s Hill and co-founder of International Human Rights Advisors, contributed to and reviewed Soft Power and Hard Law: Why the ECHR is in the UK’s National Interest, published by JUSTICE on 21 September 2026.
The paper is the second in JUSTICE’s series on the European Convention on Human Rights. Its joint foreword is signed by three former Independent Reviewers of Terrorism Legislation: Lord Carlile of Berriew CBE KC, who held the post from 2001 to 2011, Lord Anderson of Ipswich KBE KC, who held it from 2011 to 2017, and Sir Max Hill KCB KC, who held it from 2017 to 2018 and was Director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales from 2018 to 2023.
Ben Keith’s contribution went to the paper’s treatment of extradition and criminal justice cooperation, the subject of its chapter on hard law. The chapter draws on ‘Extradition under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement’, written by Ben Keith with Sophia Kerridge and Edward Grange and published by 5 St Andrew’s Hill on 10 March 2021.
On leaving the European Union, the UK left the European Arrest Warrant and became a third country for extradition. Title VII of Part Three of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement replaced the warrant with a surrender agreement. Ten member states, including France, Germany and Poland, now decline to surrender their own nationals to the UK. Austria and the Czech Republic require the person’s consent.
The paper sets out how that cooperation is tied to continued ECHR membership. Article 524 of the agreement grounds the whole of Part Three in respect for the Convention and in giving Convention rights domestic effect. Article 692(2) allows cooperation to end fifteen days after the UK notifies the Council of Europe of an intention to withdraw, while withdrawal itself takes six months under Article 58 ECHR. On concluding the agreement, the Council of the European Union recorded that Part Three will be terminated if the UK denounces the Convention.
Part Three also covers automated access to European DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data, UK desks at Europol and Eurojust, participation in joint investigation teams, and mutual legal assistance. A UK liaison prosecutor supported more than 200 new Eurojust cases in 2025.
Soft Power and Hard Law: Why the ECHR is in the UK’s National Interest is available from JUSTICE at justice.org.uk.
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