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
Category: Terrorism & Counter-terrorism
RUC Walker Report: The Wall of Silence Loses Another Brick Guest post by Brian Gormally, CAJ
On 16 January 1980, the then Chief Constable of the RUC commissioned a report on the interchange of intelligence between Special Branch (SB) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and on the staffing and organisation of various other RUC units. This was written by one Patrick J. Walker, then a senior officer in the Belfast…Continue reading RUC Walker Report: The Wall of Silence Loses Another Brick Guest post by Brian Gormally, CAJ
New border policing powers proposed Guest post by Brian Gormally, CAJ
A Draft Bill introduced into the House of Commons by the UK Government proposes new powers for police, customs and immigration officers along the Border. In a mile-wide strip along the Border between North and South, people will be liable to stopped, searched and detained in order to check whether they are entering or leaving…Continue reading New border policing powers proposed Guest post by Brian Gormally, CAJ
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’?
Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival Programme Launched!
Today saw the launch of the programme for the 2014 Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival (NIHRF). The festival, which will take place from 8-13 December, consists of a series of events on a range of human rights issues from home and abroad in celebration of International Human Rights Day on 10 December . All events…Continue reading Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival Programme Launched!
Moazzam Begg: released without charge
Back in February, I wrote at this site about my concern on hearing of the arrest of Moazzam Begg, ex Guantanamo Bay detainee. I had listened to Moazzam speak about his experiences in Belfast in 2009 (my article reporting on his talk at St Mary’s College about his incarceration without charge post 9/11, originally written…Continue reading Moazzam Begg: released without charge
Where now for the hooded men? Ireland v UK revisted
Rights NI is delighted to welcome this guest post from Christopher Stanley of KRW LAW LLP KRW Recent research which has fed into high profile media documentary television programmes by both RTE and BBC has resurrected interest in the case of the 14 Hooded Men. It will be recalled that The Hooded Men were those…Continue reading Where now for the hooded men? Ireland v UK revisted
Covert Policing and Ensuring Accountability: Ten Years on from the Cory Collusion Inquiry Reports, where now?
CAJ in partnership with University of Ulster Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) will be hosting the following seminar on Tuesday 1 July 2014 Covert Policing and Ensuring Accountability: Ten Years on from the Cory Collusion Inquiry Reports, where now? Rooms 82A01 and 82A02 University of Ulster Belfast Campus, 9.30am-3pm Background information for the Covert Policing Seminar…Continue reading Covert Policing and Ensuring Accountability: Ten Years on from the Cory Collusion Inquiry Reports, where now?
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
#BringBackOurGirls & defend the right to education
On April 14, over 200 girls, most of them aged between 16 and 18, were abducted as they slept, from their school in Chibok, north-eastern Nigeria. More schoolgirls have been kidnapped since. All of these girls are missing, their whereabouts and safety unknown. Islamist armed group Boko Haram claimed responsibility. It aims to overthrow the government by…Continue reading #BringBackOurGirls & defend the right to education
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?
UK arrest of Moazzam Begg, ex Guantanamo Bay detainee – Belfast event
I am concerned to hear of the arrest of Moazzam Begg, former Guantanamo Bay detainee. Here is an article that I wrote for Amnesty International’s blog, “Belfast and Beyond”, when Moazzam Begg spoke about his experiences alongside Guantanamo former military guard at St Mary’s University College in Belfast in 2009. I haven’t followed the work…Continue reading UK arrest of Moazzam Begg, ex Guantanamo Bay detainee – Belfast event