Despite earlier commitments, recent UK and EU statements now point to Northern Ireland (NI)-resident Irish passport holders being stripped of access to almost all active EU rights following BREXIT. Should a recent EU Commission response to a question by Martina Anderson MEP stand it would leave NI resident citizens with only the same ‘dormant’ EU…Continue reading BREXIT – Sleepwalking into second class EU citizenship? Guest post by Daniel Holder, CAJ
Author: Daniel Holder
Council of Europe minority rights report – time to move on Irish language act and end abuse of the ‘good relations’ duty
This week saw the publication of the Fourth Opinion on the UK by the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for National Minorities. In accordance with the treaty-body procedure the report itself was finalised on the 25 May 2016 but awaited UK government comments before its publication. The report therefore was completed…Continue reading Council of Europe minority rights report – time to move on Irish language act and end abuse of the ‘good relations’ duty
The Border, racial profiling and Irish citizens post BREXIT
An issue which has been aired in the run up to and aftermath of the referendum has been the fate of land border on the island of Ireland. At a level of political rhetoric the position of the Leave campaign was somewhat confusing, majoring on a platform of ‘taking back control’ of UK borders whilst…Continue reading The Border, racial profiling and Irish citizens post BREXIT
ESC Rights and the Stormont Agreement Implementation Plan: a quick appraisal
Following ten weeks of talks yesterday saw the publication of the Stormont Agreement and Implementation Plan, entitled ‘A Fresh Start’. The 67 page paper is presented by the British and Irish Governments and the First and deputy First Ministers. In addition to dealing with ‘the legacy and impact of paramilitary activity’ the purpose of the…Continue reading ESC Rights and the Stormont Agreement Implementation Plan: a quick appraisal
The Historical Investigations Unit (HIU): assessing the NIO policy proposals
At the beginning of this year as the dust was just settling on the Stormont House Agreement (SHA), this blog argued that the devil would be in the detail of the ultimate legislation as to whether the HIU would have the necessary powers and independence to carry out its role. It is now some of…Continue reading The Historical Investigations Unit (HIU): assessing the NIO policy proposals
Celebrating marriage equality and challenging the post-Ashers discourse
Northern Ireland is now duly surrounded by marriage equality, and is the last bastion of marriage inequality anywhere on these islands. In England and Wales the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 and Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 legislated for same sex marriage and commenced last year. The moving and resounding vote for marriage…Continue reading Celebrating marriage equality and challenging the post-Ashers discourse
The Historical Investigations Unit (HIU): why the devil will still be in the detail
The Stormont House Agreement published by the NIO here, states that the HIU, the single investigative mechanism provided for in the Haass-O’Sullivan Proposed Agreement, will now be implemented (see CAJ commentary on Haass-O’Sullivan proposals to deal with the past, here). Unlike other aspects of the Agreement no timeframe is set out for the establishment of…Continue reading The Historical Investigations Unit (HIU): why the devil will still be in the detail
Could the NI Assembly legislate for the Haass ‘Historic Investigations Unit’?
November 2014 has witnessed some interesting statements. At a TJI conference the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, made it abundantly clear that the UK state cannot wash its hands of its Article 2 obligations by delegating them down to the devolved institutions and refusing to fund them. The Lord Chief Justice,…Continue reading Could the NI Assembly legislate for the Haass ‘Historic Investigations Unit’?
The background to CAJs legal challenge to the Anti-Poverty Strategy
17 October marks UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This post sets out the background to the decision in the high court last month to grant CAJ leave to judicially review the Northern Ireland Executive over its alleged failure to adopt an anti poverty strategy based on objective need. Following the 2006 St…Continue reading The background to CAJs legal challenge to the Anti-Poverty Strategy
‘Shopping for Peter’ and the question of which racist remarks constitute advocacy of hatred
On Saturday hundreds of people lined up outside Tescos in Belfast city centre clutching ‘I am shopping for Peter’ posters, in a creative anti-racist protest against the First Minister‘s assertion, among other matters, that he would only trust Muslims “to go down to the shop for me, to give me the right change…”. Peter Robinson…Continue reading ‘Shopping for Peter’ and the question of which racist remarks constitute advocacy of hatred
Stop and Search: legal certainty and dodgy consultation outcomes, two judgements of broader note
Last week Justice Treacy delivered judgements in two judicial reviews relating to the use of emergency-type stop and search powers under the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007, which will be of broader interest to other policy areas too. The first judgement, related to the legal certainty test under human rights law, i.e. whether…Continue reading Stop and Search: legal certainty and dodgy consultation outcomes, two judgements of broader note
An end to miscarriages of justice?
The above headline would be one usually welcomed by human rights activists here and throughout the world given the significance it could have: no more convictions on the basis of ‘confessions’ beaten out of suspects; an end to police corruption, an end to agent provocateurs fitting up persons, the list goes on. Yesterday however the…Continue reading An end to miscarriages of justice?