Former MP Owen Paterson’s human rights complaint rejected

The former North Shropshire MP, who resigned following a lobbying scandal that would have led to a 30-day suspension from Parliament, has had his appeal dismissed by the court.

Earlier this summer, the lobbying regulator found that Mr Paterson was “lobbying without being registered as a consultant”.

READ MORE: Lobbying watchdog investigates former North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson

Mr Paterson – an ardent Eurosceptic – complained to the European Court of Justice that his “good reputation” had been damaged by the public disclosure and that the process for investigating and considering the allegations against him had “not been ‘fair’ in many fundamental respects”.

He argued that his right to privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated, a right he had previously called for Britain to withdraw from.

However, in its decision announced on Thursday, the court unanimously declared his application “inadmissible”.

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The British government, against which Mr Paterson brought the action, argued that it was “a matter for Parliament, not the courts, to regulate the business of Parliament, including the conduct of Members of Parliament in the exercise of their parliamentary duties”.

Regarding Mr Paterson, the court found: ‘The applicant argued that it had been publicly stated that he had been found guilty of corruption and of breaching the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament at a fair trial.

“This called into question his character and reputation and caused him significant personal and financial loss and damage.”

Mr Paterson also highlighted the “huge stress” his family was suffering. The court heard: “His wife committed suicide during the investigation and although he admitted not knowing the reason for her suicide, he believed the ongoing investigation contributed to it.”

The court said Mr Paterson had “failed to substantiate his more specific allegations of damage to his professional relationships and his resulting financial loss”.

It states: “As he himself resigned from the House of Commons before the House could decide on the application of the recommended punishment, neither the loss of his seat nor the loss of his income from his position as a Member of Parliament were a necessary consequence of the inquiry.

“Furthermore, he has provided no evidence to support his claim that he lost his consulting job and has since been unable to find paid employment or community service as a direct result of the committee’s findings.”

The court stated that the allegations against Mr Paterson were already public knowledge before the investigation against him began, adding: “It is therefore questionable whether the negative impact on the applicant’s private life, caused solely by the investigation and its published results, reached the minimum level of gravity required for Article 8 to apply.”

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The then Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found that Mr Paterson had breached the House of Commons Code of Conduct by lobbying ministers and civil servants on behalf of two companies, paying him more than £100,000 a year to do so. His actions were described as an “egregious” breach of the rules on paid lobbying by MPs.

Mr Paterson described the process as “biased” and “unfair” and accused the Commissioner of having already formed her opinion before even speaking to him.

In November 2021, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson attempted to change the rules to prevent Mr Paterson’s six-week ban on attending Parliament, before being forced to reverse course in the face of public anger.