Blair wants to overhaul human rights laws

The Prime Minister is planning a shake-up of human rights legislation after claims that criminals' rights are being put before those of their victims. Tony Blair wants the Government to be able to override court rulings to protect public safety. The move follows a number of controversial decisions by the courts, most recently when a judge last week prevented the deportation of Afghan refugees who had hijacked a plane to Britain.

The plans are revealed in a letter to the new Home Secretary John Reid which says the Government needs to look at whether legislation is needed to address situations where courts overrule the Government in a way inconsistent with other interpretations of the European Convention on Human Rights across the EU.

This could mean amending or suspending the Human Rights Act.

Mr Blair told today's News Of The World: "We are entitled in Parliament to still say we are deliberately going to override the Human Rights Act. From our perspective we would like to - in circumstances when it is clear we are taking a definitive decision that the human rights of the victim come first. Human rights do matter, but the point is whose human rights?"