Introduction Following the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, a “piecemeal” method of dealing with the past emerged due to that agreement’s lack of an overarching method to confront the legacy of the Troubles.[1] Due to this lack of continuity, the Stormont House Agreement (2014) provided for four measures to fill this gap: (1) an Implementation…Continue reading Immunity for State Forces in Latin America and Northern Ireland: A Comparative Perspective By Gemma Canham, Graduate in Politics and Spanish, Queen’s University Belfast
Tag: dealing with the past
One rule for the military, another for the rest? Special courts and hiding accountability in Colombia Daniela Castillo, Volunteer for CAJ and Master’s Student at TJI
Since the 2014 Stormont House Agreement, there have been a number of alternative proposals to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict recently examined in a report by the CAJ-QUB Model Bill Team. Many of these came from groupings seeking various forms of amnesty or ‘statutes of limitations’ for the security forces, specifically…Continue reading One rule for the military, another for the rest? Special courts and hiding accountability in Colombia Daniela Castillo, Volunteer for CAJ and Master’s Student at TJI
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
Addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past Guest post by Chief Commissioner Les Allamby, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC)
One of the realities of the legacy of the past and moving forward the institutions created in the Stormont House Agreement is that they are the only game in town. There is no plan ‘B’ and no realistic prospect of any alternative arriving in the foreseeable future. The Commission welcomes the draft consultation and legislation…Continue reading Addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past Guest post by Chief Commissioner Les Allamby, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC)
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’?
Time to embrace Haass on ‘the past’
Standing on the shore at Newcastle during the recent tidal surges, I watched wave after wave crashing over the harbour wall. The wall, otherwise imposing on a clear day, seemed a puny human artifice as it was battered by the tide and overcome by the power of the stormy sea. Just so, with our past.…Continue reading Time to embrace Haass on ‘the past’
The Finucane Decision
Following on from Patrick’s response to the annoucement last week that there would not be an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, we welcome this piece from Paul Mageean, now of the University of Ulster, but who has previously worked as a leading human rights solicitor, as legal officer for CAJ, for the Courts…Continue reading The Finucane Decision