We have drafted written evidence in response to a call from the House of Commons General Committee on the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill. Our response mostly focuses on Clause 5 of the bill, which concerns the ‘Petition of Concern’ mechanism. We reflect on the proposed reforms to the Petition of...
Civil society groups call for action to urgently address inequalities exacerbated by COVID-19 and to prevent austerity from becoming part of NI’s pandemic recovery. The Equality Coalition, an alliance of more than 100 NGOs and trade unions, has issued an official statement urging decision makers to address inequality as part of the pandemic recovery following...
CAJ has provided written evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on its inquiry into the ‘The experience of minority ethnic and migrant people in Northern Ireland’. At the time of the 2011 census, it was found that Northern Ireland was the least ethnically diverse part of the UK. Nonetheless, a significant percentage of the...
This briefing note was prepared for the Second Reading of the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill in the UK House of Commons. The bill deals with the Petition of Concern and a range of other assorted procedural issues related to devolution. Our briefing welcomes any move to seek to return the Petition...
Rights NGOs, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) and Conradh na Gaelige, have today welcomed the decision by the Northern Ireland Assembly Commissioner for Standards, Dr Melissa McCullough, to investigate a breach of the Ministerial Code of Conduct by Junior Minister Gordon Lyons MLA. The complaint relates to the failure of Mr Lyons...
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...
Last year, the Equality Coalition teamed up with the Transitional Justice Institute and Human Rights Consortium to organise webinars examining human rights issues brought into sharp focus by the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally intended as a limited series, the webinars continued for far longer than we originally expected (much like the pandemic itself). Events were held...
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,...
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...
Since our last Annual Report, the world has changed. A pandemic grips the planet, with over 68 million cases of Covid-19 infection and over one and a half million deaths caused by the virus. This is the most significant change on a global level and there are many consequences for human rights, negative and positive....
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