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6 October 2011
Last updated at 07:45 ET
Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has hit out at the use of "child-like" examples of human rights rulings given by Home Secretary Theresa May.
She has said the case of an illegal immigrant who could not be deported "because he had a pet cat" showed why the Human Rights Act "needs to go".
Mr Clarke told the Nottingham Post the story was "complete nonsense" and such stories annoyed judges.
Mrs May faced much criticism for the comment but said it had been checked.
The interview refers to comments made by Mrs May in her Conservative conference speech this week.
Cat claim In it she outlined plans to change immigration rules to reduce the number of people successfully claiming the "right to family life" under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
She blamed the Human Rights Act - a UK bill which incorporates the principles of the ECHR into UK law - for various examples of foreign criminals who could not be deported because they were claiming the right to family life.
She said: "The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because - and I am not making this up - he had a pet cat. This is why I remain of the view that the Human Rights Act needs to go. "
But the claim was immediately disputed by the judiciary, human rights campaigners and Mr Clarke himself, who told the BBC after the speech he could not believe anyone was refused deportation because they owned a cat.
In his interview with his local newspaper, Mr Clarke said Mrs May should "address her researchers and advisers very severely" over the "nonsense example".
Mr Clarke is chairing a commission with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to look at a possible UK Bill of Rights. The Conservatives had pledged to replace the Human Rights Act with such a bill before the general election.
'Here to stay' But when they went into coalition with the Lib Dems, they agreed instead to set up the commission to look into the issue.
The prime minister and the home secretary want a new Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act - but Mr Clegg told his conference that it was "here to stay".
Mr Clarke told the newspaper: "It's not only the judges that all get furious when the home secretary makes a parody of a court judgement, our commission who are helping us form our view on this are not going to be entertained by laughable child-like examples being given."
He added: "We have a policy and in my old-fashioned way, when you serve in a government you express a collective policy of the government, you don't go round telling everyone your personal opinion is different."
The case at the centre of the row occurred in 2008 and involved a Bolivian student who said he could show he had a proper permanent relationship with his partner and should not be deported.
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She has said the case of an illegal immigrant who could not be deported "because he had a pet cat" showed why the Human Rights Act "needs to go".
Mr Clarke told the Nottingham Post the story was "complete nonsense" and such stories annoyed judges.
Mrs May faced much criticism for the comment but said it had been checked.
The interview refers to comments made by Mrs May in her Conservative conference speech this week.
Cat claim In it she outlined plans to change immigration rules to reduce the number of people successfully claiming the "right to family life" under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
She blamed the Human Rights Act - a UK bill which incorporates the principles of the ECHR into UK law - for various examples of foreign criminals who could not be deported because they were claiming the right to family life.
She said: "The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because - and I am not making this up - he had a pet cat. This is why I remain of the view that the Human Rights Act needs to go. "
But the claim was immediately disputed by the judiciary, human rights campaigners and Mr Clarke himself, who told the BBC after the speech he could not believe anyone was refused deportation because they owned a cat.
In his interview with his local newspaper, Mr Clarke said Mrs May should "address her researchers and advisers very severely" over the "nonsense example".
Mr Clarke is chairing a commission with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to look at a possible UK Bill of Rights. The Conservatives had pledged to replace the Human Rights Act with such a bill before the general election.
'Here to stay' But when they went into coalition with the Lib Dems, they agreed instead to set up the commission to look into the issue.
The prime minister and the home secretary want a new Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act - but Mr Clegg told his conference that it was "here to stay".
Mr Clarke told the newspaper: "It's not only the judges that all get furious when the home secretary makes a parody of a court judgement, our commission who are helping us form our view on this are not going to be entertained by laughable child-like examples being given."
He added: "We have a policy and in my old-fashioned way, when you serve in a government you express a collective policy of the government, you don't go round telling everyone your personal opinion is different."
The case at the centre of the row occurred in 2008 and involved a Bolivian student who said he could show he had a proper permanent relationship with his partner and should not be deported.
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