Five judges of the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal have given a divided ruling over a secret MI5 policy allowing security service agents to commit serious crimes on UK soil. The judges decided 3-2 that MI5’s policy was lawful. The claimants in the case confirmed they would immediately seek permission to challenge the ruling at the...

Inside this issue: Our Director, Brian Gormally, examines the rights implications of the landslide Conservative victory in the general election. There are also guest articles from NIWEP on the key anniversaries for women’s rights that will take place in 2020; WRDA on the fight to end sexual harassment; and NIHRC on the cumulative impact of...

We are living in strange times, dominated by Brexit, but the work of CAJ has continued, unabated, over the last twelve months. In our latest annual report, CAJ’s key achievements from the last year are highlighted, including the establishment of two brand new projects to take our work forward. Introduction to the report: This has...

CAJ has issued a statement on Paul O’Connor, Director of the Pat Finucane Centre, in response to the media coverage he received over the past weekend: “CAJ wishes to put on record that we have worked with Paul O’Connor, Director of the Pat Finucane Centre, for many years. He has been – and continues to...

CAJ has expressed concern at the ongoing secrecy over the potential operational relationship between MI5 and military units operating in Northern Ireland. This follows a ruling by the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) (1) to block disclosure of a section (henceforward referred to as ‘the disputed paragraph’) of the British Army’s terms of reference for ‘Operation...

Inside this issue: A series of articles examine how amendments to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill 2019 on equal marriage, abortion law, and legacy will impact our society. Dr John Topping of Queen’s University Belfast writes about the PSNI’s use of ‘everyday’ stop and search powers. The Chair of the Northern Ireland Business and...

CAJ requires a Volunteer Coordinator. Gain valuable experience working with the CAJ team as our new Volunteer Coordinator. The purpose of this voluntary post is to coordinate and support other volunteers working for CAJ in various capacities. The aim is to help build a new generation of human rights activists and to provide practical help...

A one-day conference was held on 13 October 2017 to explore, from a human rights perspective, when public authorities can or must act against speech and cultural expression in order to protect the rights of others. The event was organised by the Equality Coalition, with support from the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global...

On the 23 September 2019, the Council of Europe (CoE) Committee of Ministers, which oversees the implementation of the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights (ECthR), will meet in Strasbourg to consider whether there has been progress in implementing the requirements of a number of court judgements. It is expected that this will...

The Court of Appeal in Belfast today held that the treatment meted out to the ‘Hooded Men’, if it occurred today, would “properly be characterised as torture”. They further held that the Chief Constable had promised a criminal investigation, which has not yet happened, but that any investigation by the PSNI Legacy Investigation Branch or...