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 joins with a range of civic and business groups in writing an open letter to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker in the US House of Representatives, on the need to protect the NI peace settlement during US-UK trade talks. As US Vice President Mike Pence continues his visit to Ireland and the UK, a consortium of...

Two amendments to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill 2019, inserted in the House of Commons, would require the NI Secretary of State to report on progress towards implementing measures designed to afford additional protections to security forces in legacy investigations. Namely (in summary), these amendments add requirements for the Secretary of State to: Report...

When: 9.30am to 4.45pm, Friday 27 September 2019 Where: Canada Room, Queen’s University Belfast A working conference organised by CAJ in collaboration with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), QUB Human Rights Centre, and Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. The reality of Northern Ireland life for the past...

In March 2019, the Equality Coalition, in partnership with BrexitLawNI, held a major conference on ‘Post-Brexit Citizenship Status: Divided by the Rules?’ in the Moot Court Room at Queen’s University Belfast. Featuring expert practioner and political panels, the conference explored how Brexit will transform the citizenship landscape in Northern Ireland and could lead to hardened...

When: 1.30pm to 4pm, Thursday 27 June 2019 Where: UNISON, Galway House, Belfast Launch of the ‘Post-Brexit Citizenship Status: Divided by the Rules?’ conference report and discussion of the ‘Manifesto for a Rights Based Return to Power Sharing’, featuring a keynote address from Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tony Lloyd MP. In March...

CAJ and other members of the Brexit and Human Rights Working Group share concerns about the increased possibility of a ‘No Deal’ Brexit. As representatives of Civil Society, we believe that Northern Ireland is on the brink of a No Deal Brexit emergency. In an evolving political landscape, a variety of factors indicate that the...

Yesterday, CAJ was invited to appear before the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU to speak on citizenship rights in post-Brexit Northern Ireland. Also present were Les Allamby, Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), and Professor Colin Harvey of Queen’s University Belfast. Below is...

More than two years have elapsed since the devolved power sharing institutions provided for under the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) collapsed in Northern Ireland. Additionally, many of the rights based commitments of the peace settlement, including those originally designed as to act as safeguards on the NI Executive and Assembly, remain unimplemented or have been...

Contained within the Ireland/Northern Ireland protocol of the draft Withdrawal Agreement is a commitment from the UK to ensure that, in the event of Brexit, there will be “no diminution” of key rights set out in the Good Friday Agreement. This commitment is to be implemented through ‘dedicated mechanisms’, including new oversight and enforcement powers...