In Northern Ireland, abortion is regulated by outdated legislation, including Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861. Abortion is only lawful where necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman or where there is a risk of real and serious adverse effects on the woman’s physical or mental health,...

CAJ Director Brian Gormally appeared today before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality to discuss the issues and potential risks raised by Brexit in terms of human rights and equality in Ireland. Attending the same meeting were representatives of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) and the Irish Human Rights and Equality...

CAJ highlights another year spent promoting justice and protecting rights in our Annual Report 2018. It’s been an eventful twelve months for the CAJ team, not least because of the human rights implications of the UK’s impending exit from the EU. Introduction to the report: People in Northern Ireland are sometimes accused, not always unjustly,...

When: 11am to 1pm, Tuesday 11 December 2018 Where: UNISON, Galway House, Belfast As part of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival 2018, the Equality Coalition invite to you to a panel discussion on the increasingly hostile environment faced by human rights defenders. Online abuse, trolling and threats have become common place in the digital...

Inside this issue: Belfast journalists reject recent attacks on media freedom. Experts provide commentary on the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill and the latest legacy proposals for Northern Ireland. We examine how one council’s ban on Irish street signage ended badly in court and highlight new research which shows Brexit may weaken human rights protections....

CAJ has lodged a formal complaint with the European Ombudsman in relation to rights in Northern Ireland after Brexit. We are concerned that previous promises to protect the rights of people in post-Brexit Northern Ireland are now at risk of being watered down. In December 2017, the EU and the UK produced a joint report...

Responding to reports that two journalists have been arrested in connection with the alleged theft of a confidential report from the Police Ombudsman, which was used in a recent documentary on the Loughinisland massacre, No Stone Unturned, Brian Gormally, Director of CAJ, said: “The arrest of journalists because of their work is always a concern,...

A joint QUB/UU/CAJ team has published a detailed response to the latest proposals for addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past. The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has been seeking views on a draft legacy bill for Northern Ireland. If enacted, this bill would see the establishment of four new institutions for dealing with the past...

From a human rights perspective, there are numerous objections to the contents of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill 2018. The proposed bill also contains measures that could have worrying implications if applied to their full extent in Northern Ireland. The bill, which is currently making its way through the UK parliament, includes provisions that...

CAJ has written an open letter to the UK’s new Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, in response to his remarkable statement that former soldiers who served in Northern Ireland will not be chased by people making “vexatious claims” on his watch. He also said he “would absolutely stamp on any of...