THE government has been accused of excluding disabled people from its review of planned reforms to human rights law.

Ministers are currently consulting groups on plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights, a move widely condemned by opposition MPs and rights groups.

The consultation, which opened on December 14, is due to close on March 8.

Disability groups claim they have only been given 12 days to consult on the future of the legislation, however, due to government delays in publishing an “easy read” version of the document.

This has made it “virtually impossible” for some people to respond, the groups claim. 

In an open letter penned by Liberty and signed by more than 140 civil society and rights groups, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has been urged to extend the consultation deadline. 

The letter, sent on February 28, reads: “Refusing to extend the deadline is refusing to enable people to take part.”

Liberty director Martha Spurrier said it was an insult to people living with disabilities to only publish the easy-read document 10 weeks into a 12-week consultation process.

“This is typical of a government that is desperate to push through these plans without a proper and inclusive conversation, having already completely ignored the findings of a nine-month long independent report,” she said. 

The government commissioned the Independent Human Rights Act review in December 2020, which concluded that there was not a good case for making changes to the legislation. 

This was echoed in a recent report by MPs on the joint committee of human rights which concluded that there is “no case for changing the Human Rights Act.”

It comes as the Welsh and Scottish governments released a joint statement today condemning the planned reforms as an “ideologically motivated attack on freedoms and liberties.”

Mr Raab’s reforms seek to make it much harder for people to challenge the government and public bodies when potential injustices occur. Human rights groups warn this will particularly impact disabled people who are more likely to rely on public bodies. 

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are working urgently to address delays caused by supplier issues and have published an interim version but apologise for the wait for a fully accessible document.”

The department said that a large print version of the document has been available since the consultation started on December 14 and an audio version will be published this week.