Promoting Justice /
Protecting Rights
The BrexitLawNI Project is a collaborative ESRC-funded research project between the Law Schools of Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University and the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ).
The project will examine the constitutional, conflict transformation, human rights and equality consequences of Brexit.
Northern Ireland (along with Scotland) voted to remain in the European Union (EU); it is the region of the United Kingdom (UK) most likely to be negatively affected by the decision to leave the EU. It is now evident that the transformation of constitutional and legal relationships between Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Britain flowing from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 1998 was premised on background assumptions about common membership of the EU. The UK-wide vote to leave the EU is thus profoundly unsettling for the peace process, and it has already proved constitutionally destabilising in and beyond Northern Ireland.
Many complex questions are arising, with significant legal and constitutional consequences that demand considered reflection. This new initiative aims to meet this need by disentangling the legal elements of Brexit with regard to Northern Ireland, and presenting and communicating the related implications for policy and practice in user-friendly formats.
The project will particularly focus on: the Northern Ireland peace process ; North-South relations; border controls and free movement in and between Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Britain; xenophobia and racism in Northern Ireland; the impact on socio-economic rights; and wider human rights and equality issues.
Through extensive research and public engagement our ambition is to make a constructive and informed contribution to local and global conversations on the implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland.
This project is led by Professor Colin Harvey, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast and the team includes leading researchers from Queen’s, Ulster University and CAJ.
The Project has a dedicated website at www.brexitlawni.org and you can follow it on Twitter and Facebook
Blog posts can be found HERE
Initial reflections on the human rights and equality aspects of the Protocol to the Draft Withdrawal Agreement with respect to Ireland/N. Ireland
brexit-law-ni-initial-comments
Analysis on the Phase 1 Negotiations Report
BrexitLawNI-Analysis-Phase-1-Report-Final
6 project areas- papers on preliminary Findings
Preliminary-Findings-Report-North-South-Relations
Preliminary-Findings-Report-Border-Controls
Preliminary-Findings-Report-Human-rights-and-Equality
Preliminary-Findings-Report-Peace-Process
Preliminary-Findings-Report-Racism-and-Xenophobia
Preliminary-Findings-Report-Socioeconomic-Rights
Consolidated list of Solutions so far
Submission to the North Ireland Affairs Committee inquiry into the Land Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland
NI-Affairs-committee-inquiry-into-the-land-border
What do young people think about brexit?
What-do-young-people-in-Belfast-think-about-Brexit
Written Evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill and its implications for human rights and equality in Northern Ireland
Written-Evidence-to-HL-CC-evidence-October-2017-BrexitLawNI
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: Implications for Human Rights and Equality in Northern Ireland