A joint press release from CAJ, Reprieve, Privacy International, and the Pat Finucane Centre. Agents of MI5 and other Government bodies could be legally authorised to commit crimes under new legislation introduced today. There appear to be no express limits in the legislation on the types of crime which could be authorised. The Covert Human...

Civil society groups, including CAJ, warn UK government not to threaten Good Friday Agreement through Internal Market Bill. Representatives from a wide range of civil society groups met with officials from the UK Government on Friday (18 September 2020) and registered our strong protest at the terms of the Internal Market Bill, which directly breaches...

In a letter to MPs and Peers, civil society organisations, including CAJ, warn of their “serious concerns” about the Internal Market Bill. The letter, with signatories including the Pesticide Action Network UK and UNISON, warns that the proposed internal market rules pose a threat to the devolution settlements, the rule of law and the UK’s...

Civil society organisations in Northern Ireland have warned against the peace process and the rights of Northern Irish people being used as a bargaining chip in the latest round of negotiations on the trade deal between the UK and the EU. Alarm bells were set off when the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis...

The Equality Coalition, Transitional Justice Institute, and Human Rights Consortium are running a series of webinars this summer and autumn examining human rights issues that have been brought into sharp focus by the COVID-19 pandemic. All webinars in the ‘Covid Conversations’ series will take place via Zoom. Early registration is advised as each event is...

The body overseeing implementation of the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has given a final deadline to the UK government by which it must provide details of its proposals to deal with the legacy of the conflict in Northern Ireland. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has requested the information...

CAJ notes the appointment of six new Commissioners to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), who each took up office on 1 September 2020. CAJ hopes they will demonstrate their firm commitment to upholding international human rights standards under the leadership of the Chief Commissioner, Les Allamby, not only as we attempt to emerge...

There are a number of imminent rights protections gaps that will result from Brexit. Some of these areas were to be addressed in the context of the EU-UK future relationship negotiations yet seem to have fallen off the agenda as the end of the transition period approaches. The pandemic, alongside a perception such matters have...

From the recent immigration white paper (published December 2018), it is clear that the UK government intends to move towards an online immigration system, with applications, visa documents, and status checking taking place digitally.  At the UK border, the use of e-gates and an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme is proposed. What the immigration white...

MI6 has been forced to apologise to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal after two of its officers asked court staff to return documents relating to MI6’s use of agents and not show them to judges. The Tribunal suggested MI6’s actions were “inappropriate interference”. The revelation emerged in an ongoing legal case considering what crimes intelligence informants...