Tag: Good Friday Agreement
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Eleni Frantziou and Anurag Deb: Direct Effect, Disapplication, and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: Still Together in Northern Ireland after Dillon?
Between 14 and 16 October 2025, the UK Supreme Court heard the appeal of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (‘SOSNI’) against the Dillon decision of the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal (‘NICA’). The facts of the case have already been explained in an earlier post, so there is no need to rehearse them…
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Brice Dickson: The meaning of ‘civil rights’ in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement
From 14 to 16 October 2025 the UK Supreme Court is due to hear an important case on the extent to which the Windsor Framework – the new name for the revised Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol to the EU–UK Withdrawal Agreement of 2020 – protects ‘civil rights’ in Northern Ireland. In Dillon’s and Others’ Application, an appeal by the…
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Richard Brant and Lauren Butler: Reform UK’s Plans for “Getting Tough on Illegal Immigration”: From Legal Reset to Sunset
On 26 August 2025 Nigel Farage (Leader of Reform UK) and Zia Yusuf (now Head of Policy at Reform UK) unveiled their plan titled, ‘Operation Restoring Justice’. Key points from the plan were also reiterated at the Next Step Conference on 05 September 2025. Reform UK address the topic of immigration in their plan, adding…
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Ewan Smith and Tom Flynn: “Parity of Esteem? Ní Cheapaim!”
On the fourth of February, Nationalists and Unionists agreed to form a new government in Northern Ireland. For five of the seven years since 2017 Northern Ireland has been governed without ministers. Without political decision-makers, civil servants could only work within the lines of existing policy. This had stark consequences for people in Northern Ireland. On…
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Sir Jonathan Jones QC (Hon): The Northern Ireland Protocol, International Law and the Attorney General
The Times recently (11 May 2022) reported that the Attorney General, Suella Braverman, had received, and given, legal advice to the effect that proposed government action in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol was compatible with international law. As I write, we have still not seen details of either the proposals or the legal arguments…
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Anurag Deb: Judicialising the legislative process: The Petition of Concern
Northern Ireland’s constitutional arrangements are changing again. This is hardly a surprise, because change was foreshadowed in the New Decade New Approach agreement (NDNA) under which Stormont returned from its nearly three-year coma. Moreover, the change itself is backed by nearly all of Stormont’s political parties. However, the change is as unusual as the provision which is…
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Lisa Claire Whitten: The Belfast ‘Good Friday’ Agreement and Unconstructive Ambiguity
Speaking in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister described the controversial provisions of the UK Internal Market (UKIM) Bill as a “legal safety net” to protect “the Northern Irish peace process and the Good Friday Agreement” against “extreme” implementation of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol (the Protocol) contained in the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement that he…
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Colin Murray: A Referendum on a United Ireland: Perspectives from UK Constitutional Law
Editors’ Note: This post is part of an IACL-AIDC Blog Symposium on unification of the island of Ireland. The Symposium is co-hosted by the Constitution Project @ UCC Blog. Selected posts will also be co-hosted by the UKCLA Blog. The full set of posts can be found here. The Northern Ireland Act 1998, a statute…
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Oran Doyle: Irish Unification: Processes and Considerations
Editors’ Note: This post is part of an IACL-AIDC Blog Symposium on unification of the island of Ireland. The Symposium is co-hosted by the Constitution Project @ UCC Blog. Selected posts will also be co-hosted by the UKCLA Blog. The full set of posts can be found here. The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA)—the agreement between…
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Anurag Deb: Identity: Northern Ireland’s Gordian Knot
On 14 October 2019, the Upper Tribunal (UT) handed down judgment in SSHD v De Souza, immediately dividing commentators both in and outside Northern Ireland. Briefly, the UT had heard the Home Secretary’s appeal against the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) decision which had declared that the American claimant (respondent in the UT) was entitled to apply…