Tag: Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
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Anne Smith and Colin Harvey: Where Next for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland?
On the 10 December 2018 we launched the findings of our research project funded by Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) about the next steps for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights. The 10 December 2018 was symbolic as it marked both the 10th anniversary of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s (NIHRC) advice to the…
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Anne Smith and Colin Harvey: Continuing the Conversation about a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
The long journey towards a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland continues. It is being referred to again in the current negotiations as an unimplemented element of earlier Agreements. We are taking forward a project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust with the aim of reflecting on the next steps. With this in mind…
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David Scott: Miller, Sewel, and the Human Rights Act
Many celebrated Miller’s outcome, imposing a Parliamentary “brake” (however brief) on the triggering of Article 50. But the Supreme Court’s unanimous agreement on the devolution issues [129–151 for the majority; agreement in the dissents at 242, 243, and 282] may have weakened opposition to the Government’s “other” crusade—against the European Court of Human Rights. Devolution…
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Anne Smith and Monica McWilliams: Now Is the Time to Re-open the Debate about Progressing the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights
Following the results of the Brexit referendum in the UK and the Conservative’s plans both to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights and to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, this is an opportunity to re-open the debate on how best to address the current political stalemate on…
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Colm O’Cinneide: Human Rights, Devolution and the Constrained Authority of the Westminster Parliament
The debate over the place of human rights in UK constitutional law continues to run and run. The Home Secretary, Theresa May MP, has recently criticised the manner in which UK judges are interpreting the right to family life protected by Article 8 of the ECHR. A private members bill tabled by Tory MP Charlie…
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Brice Dickson and Colin Harvey: Options on the way forward for human rights in Northern Ireland
Advice on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, submitted to the Secretary of State by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in 2008, was roundly rejected by the UK government in 2009 and there seems to be little appetite within the Northern Ireland Office for revisiting the issue in the foreseeable future. In London,…