The Covid-19 pandemic has shocked and changed the world. CAJ is convinced that a human rights perspective is essential to both enduring the pandemic and moving into the future. For us, this approach can be summed up in the following imperatives: Protect people, restrict freedom only as necessary, help the most vulnerable, and together prepare…Continue reading Prepare for a better world Brian Gormally, Director, CAJ
Category: Economic & Social Rights
Borders and Backstops – How will Brexit impact Northern Ireland? Guest post by Jo Smith and Cameron Boyle
The question of the Irish border has been a major sticking point in Brexit negotiations. With Boris Johnson repudiating the Irish Backstop and declaring it as ‘dead’, Northern Ireland has been plunged into a state of further uncertainty. What was the Irish Backstop? The backstop was a means of ensuring that the Irish border remained…Continue reading Borders and Backstops – How will Brexit impact Northern Ireland? Guest post by Jo Smith and Cameron Boyle
Autumn in Northern Ireland: Parameters of a political, social and economic crisis Guest post by Brian Gormally, Director, CAJ
As autumn arrives in Northern Ireland a many-sided crisis, already developing, will affect all our lives. There is a crisis of governance at a UK level. The current government, headed by Boris Johnson, has a working majority of one in the House of Commons, even with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The…Continue reading Autumn in Northern Ireland: Parameters of a political, social and economic crisis Guest post by Brian Gormally, Director, CAJ
Will NI-born Irish citizens have to pay a £65 or £437 fee to keep some EU rights after Brexit? Guest post by Daniel Holder, Deputy Director, CAJ
The above derided Home Office tweet and other official Brexit communications overlook the part of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) where the UK recognises the birthright of those born in Northern Ireland to be accepted as Irish and hold Irish citizenship. Given this recognition it is hardly compatible with the GFA to casually imply…Continue reading Will NI-born Irish citizens have to pay a £65 or £437 fee to keep some EU rights after Brexit? Guest post by Daniel Holder, Deputy Director, CAJ
BREXIT – Sleepwalking into second class EU citizenship? Guest post by Daniel Holder, CAJ
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
The Agreement at 20 Guest Post by Kevin Hanratty
(This personal reflection is a cross posted article from the Irish News and The Human Rights Consortium) 20 years ago today I sat with friends in our student accommodation in Belfast and watched as politicians emerged to announce the new peace deal that was the Good Friday Agreement. We were all students at Queens, had grown up in the…Continue reading The Agreement at 20 Guest Post by Kevin Hanratty
The Return of the Bill of Rights? Guest Post by Professor Colin Harvey and Dr Anne Smith
The Northern Ireland Bill of Rights appears to have made a comeback. A process that involved much collective effort seemed to have ended in the vague language of paragraph 69 of the Stormont House Agreement (SHA). With no one prepared to take responsibility for its advancement, hope had faded; like much else relating to rights…Continue reading The Return of the Bill of Rights? Guest Post by Professor Colin Harvey and Dr Anne Smith
The Good Friday Agreement at 20 Event Invitation - 10 April 2018
To Register for the event and details of the upcoming seminars please go to the eventbrite page HERE This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. As we reach this milestone, we believe that it is time to not only celebrate the achievement of the Agreement and the role that civic…Continue reading The Good Friday Agreement at 20 Event Invitation – 10 April 2018
A pension for seriously injured victims of the Troubles – a human rights issue Guest Post by Dr Luke Moffett
Today and tomorrow injured victims from the WAVE Trauma Centre will hold a series of talks in Westminster to advance the issue of a pension for those seriously injured during the Troubles. The move to Westminster comes in the wake of the collapse at Stormont, but also a lack of leadership to deliver redress to…Continue reading A pension for seriously injured victims of the Troubles – a human rights issue Guest Post by Dr Luke Moffett
CAJ Initial comments on draft Withdrawal Agreement protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Guest Post by Brian Gormally, CAJ
Synopsis of the Contents The Protocol begins with a lengthy preamble dealing with the context which has led to it. The vital points are: The GFA must be protected “in all its parts” The commitment of the UK to protect North-South cooperation and the guarantee to avoid a hard border are “overarching requirements” and any…Continue reading CAJ Initial comments on draft Withdrawal Agreement protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Guest Post by Brian Gormally, CAJ
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
Venice Academy: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights as an Answer to Rising Inequalities
Admissions to the Venice Academy of Human Rights on the topic Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights as an Answer to Rising Inequalities (3 – 12 July 2017), organised by the European InterUniversity Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) are open until 19 April 2017, early birds who apply until 15 March 2017 receive a…Continue reading Venice Academy: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights as an Answer to Rising Inequalities