The number of UK court cases making use of the Human Rights Act 1998 has risen for the first time in seven years, according to research by Sweet & Maxwell.

The number of cases using the act grew by 6%, from 327 in the 12 months to October 2008 to 348 in the year to October 2009. The number of reported cases brought by businesses using the act was 19, nearly double the 10 reported in the previous year.

There was a leap in the number of human rights cases involving immigration, asylum and deportation issues. In the 12 months to October 2009, there were 51 such cases, 15% of the overall number. This was an increase of more than a third on the 38 cases reported in the previous year.

The research also showed that 5% of all the cases where Human Rights Act arguments were used were brought against HM Revenue & Customs on tax-related matters.

The study suggested that the economic climate may have fuelled the rise in the number of businesses using the act, as they were forced to use innovative legal arguments to protect their commercial interests.

In its election manifesto, the Conservative Party pledged to scrap the act, but that proposal is now under review. Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke has commented that repealing the act is ‘not a high priority’ and the subject was omitted from the coalition’s programme.

The Liberal Democrats said they would protect the act. Lib Dem peer Lord McNally, now a minister at the Ministry of Justice, has said he will resign if the act is repealed.