The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Irish Human Rights Commission have today presented their advice on a Charter of Rights for the island of Ireland and have forwarded this to the UK and Irish Governments. They have recommended that human rights standards currently signed up to by the two governments should be used as the minimum protection structure from which a Charter could be established.
NIHRC Chief Commissioner, Professor Monica McWilliams, said:
Both Commissions were asked to provide this advice under the terms of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and we are pleased that we have completed this work. Co-operation between the two jurisdictions on this island on matters such as policing and justice will continue to raise issues of mutual concern, but through this joint work our two Commissions have found much common ground on human rights protections both North and South.
IHRC President, Dr Maurice Manning, added:
We have advised that a Charter would not need to create any new protections. It could restate the fundamental human rights that already exist in both jurisdictions, thereby helping to underpin the peace process and providing a basis from which political parties could demonstrate their continued commitment to human rights. For these reasons we would encourage both governments and the political parties to take this work forward.
ENDS
Further information:
For further information please contact the IHRC at 01 8589601.
For further information (NIHRC) please contact Claire Martin, Press and Public Affairs Worker: (028) 9024 3987 (office), 0771 7731873 (mobile).
Notes to editors
The Advice of the Joint Committee on a Charter of Rights for the Island of Ireland is available here.
This Advice was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas by the Ceann Comhairle on 27 June 2011.
1. The Joint Committee of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Irish Human Rights Commission (the Joint Committee) was mandated by the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement 1998 to "consider, among others matters, the possibility of establishing a charter, open to signature by all democratic political parties, reflecting and endorsing agreed measures for the protection of the fundamental rights of everyone living in the island of Ireland".
2. The Joint Committee understands the scope of this mandate to include consideration of the possibility of a Charter and seeks to provide advice within this context. The advice outlines the origins of a Charter as established by relevant political agreements. It sets out the existing human rights provisions of both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland and details the legal foundation for creating a Charter that would maintain a level of protection for fundamental rights on a cross-jurisdictional basis.
3. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is an independent statutory body first proposed in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (1998) and established in 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act (1998).
4. The Irish Human Rights Commission is also an independent statutory body pursuant to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (1998) and established in 2001 under the Human Rights Commission Act 2000.