Promoting Justice /
Protecting Rights

Submissions

CAJ regularly responds to government public consultations.  A full list of our consultations submissions is available below.

Accountable Policing and Justice

Equality

Combating Impunity

Freedom of Expression

Protecting Human Rights and the Peace Settlement

International

07/06/2021

The Right to Protest and NI Coronavirus regulations

During the pandemic, the main regulations impacting the right to protest have been the ‘restrictions on gatherings’ and (when still in force) the ‘stay at home’ rule. At times, there has been no specific exemption to accommodate protests, making them all effectively illegal. Currently (since 24 May 2021), provisions are in place allowing outdoor gatherings...
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20/05/2021

Response to the PSNI consultation and EQIA on the temporary use of spit and bite guards

A Spit and Bite Guard (SBG) is a controversial mesh hood, used to prevent a person from spitting on or biting police officers or staff. SBG were introduced by the PSNI, without consultation, last year as a temporary measure for the duration of the Coronavirus pandemic. The use of SBGs constitutes a use of force....
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15/04/2021

CAJ cautions against the use of vaccine passports

CAJ concerned vaccine passport app could discriminate and be ID card by stealth CAJ has urged the NI Executive to consider the human rights implications of requiring people in Northern Ireland to carry a vaccine ‘passport’ to prove they have been immunised against Covid-19. We have analysed the proposals for a ‘digital certificate’ of vaccination,...
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01/04/2021

Submission to the Committee of Ministers in relation to the supervision of the cases concerning the action of the security forces in Northern Ireland (February 2021)

CAJ regularly makes submissions the Committee of Ministers on the ‘McKerr group of cases’ concerning the actions of the security forces in the 1980s and 1990s in Northern Ireland. Our recent submissions have charted the unilateral abandonment by the UK of commitments to implement the legacy mechanisms contained within the Stormont House Agreement (SHA), and...
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04/03/2021

CAJ responds to review of the Human Rights Act

CAJ has responded to the Independent Human Rights Act Review. The review was set up by the UK government to ‘consider how the Human Rights Act (HRA) is working in practice and whether any change is needed’. We believe is important to see this review in the context of a long list of attempts by...
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02/03/2021

Equality Coalition submission on Programme for Government outcomes and draft budget

The Equality Coalition has finalised its submission on the Programme for Government (PfG) outcomes and draft budget (including departmental screenings/EQIAs). Given their interlinking nature, this submission responds to a number of different, concurrent consultations at once. The submission examines the rights and equality implications of current plans, including whether the Section 75 statutory equality duty...
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25/02/2021

Written evidence on the Citizenship and Passport Processes in Northern Ireland

The NI Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry into the ‘Citizenship and Passport Processes in Northern Ireland’, and is seeking written evidence on the following three questions: The interaction between UK nationality law and Articles 1 (v) and (vi) of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, and any engagement with the ECHR; Whether the Government should consider...
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08/02/2021

Submission responding to the UK’s latest update on its compliance with European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

CAJ has provided comment on the UK’s official response to the 5th report on its adherence to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). Our submission is limited to commentary on the UK’s commitments in Northern Ireland  under the ECRML, namely those related to the promotion and protection of Irish and Ulster Scots....
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02/02/2021

Model Bill Team submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Reparation and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice Reparations and Guarantees of Non-Recurrence is drafting a follow-up report to examine to what extent the UK has implemented recommendations made based on an official visit to the country in 2016. Civil society groups and national human rights institutions have been given an opportunity to...
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18/01/2021

Post-Brexit access to European Health Insurance Card rights for people in Northern Ireland

The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is a free card that provides access to medically necessary (state) healthcare during a temporary stay in either an EU member state or in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland, under the same conditions and at the same cost as an insured resident of that country. In general terms, this...
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03/12/2020

Submission to the Committee of Ministers in relation to the supervision of the cases concerning the action of the security forces in Northern Ireland (October 2020)

The Committee of Ministers is the decision-making body of Europe’s leading human rights organisation, the Council of Europe. Its functions include examining the execution of judgments made by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in a series of cases in which states have been found to have committed human rights violations. CAJ regularly makes submissions the...
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20/11/2020

Evidence to Ad Hoc Committee on a Bill of Rights from CAJ

CAJ has given evidence to the Ad Hoc Committee on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland on the challenges facing Northern Ireland and the case for a Bill of Rights. Our evidence explains how a rights-based approach in general, and a Bill of Rights in particular, could assist in meeting the existential challenges facing...
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18/11/2020

Stormont’s vetoes in the context of a pandemic – An Equality Coalition briefing note

In 2019, the Equality Coalition’s Manifesto for a Rights Based Return to Power Sharing called for a new agreement to remove those political vetoes within the NI Executive that are not based on (and have conflicted with) equality and rights duties, and as such contributed to the destabilisation and collapse of the NI Executive in...
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12/11/2020

Joint ICCL CAJ briefing note on Clause 109 of the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020

CAJ produced this joint briefing note with ICCL to highlight issues that may arise from changing the definition of a ‘non-national’ under Ireland’s 2004 Immigration Act, which is the statutory basis for passport control into the Irish state. The briefing raises a number of concerns related to this change and how it may impact movement...
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27/10/2020

CAJ response to the Independent Review of Administrative Law (IRAL)

CAJ has responded to the UK’s government’s Independent Review of Administrative Law (IRAL). This was set up following a commitment in the Conservative Party 2019 Manifesto “to consider options for reform to the process of Judicial Review”. In our submission, we assert that it is not necessary or appropriate to seek to restrict judicial review,...
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