The Equality Coalition, Transitional Justice Institute, and Human Rights Consortium are running a series of webinars this summer and autumn examining human rights issues that have been brought into sharp focus by the COVID-19 pandemic. All webinars in the ‘Covid Conversations’ series will take place via Zoom. Early registration is advised as each event is...

A 14 day self-isolation period for incoming passengers to the UK and Ireland has been under discussion for some time to prevent imported cases of Covid-19. CAJ has published a previous briefing paper exploring the complex issues related to operating such a system within the Common Travel Area (the open border zone consisting of the...

In May 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the British and Irish governments announced measures requiring incoming travellers to ‘self-isolate’ upon arrival. These measures are part of government plans to ease lockdown and are intended to manage the risk of transmissions being reintroduced from abroad as international travel restrictions are eased. We have drafted...

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 has submitted a breach of equality scheme complaint against Translink in response to the company facilitating discriminatory passport checks on its cross-border transport services. The complaint has been made by CAJ on behalf of 17 directly affected passengers. Over recent months, concern has been building over the increasing number of passport and identity checks...

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: 10am-4pm, Monday 4 March 2019. Where: Moot Court Room, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast. This one-day conference from BrexitLawNI and the Equality Coalition will examine the risks of hardened entitlement boundaries between different groups of citizens in post-Brexit Northern Ireland. The existing paradigm of two main citizenship categories (EU and non-EU) will be...

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...

To say there is still confusion about the practical implications of Brexit is an understatement. One area over which there remains numerous questions is the impact of Brexit on the rights of people born or living in Northern Ireland depending on their citizenship status. Currently, people resident in Northern Ireland generally fall into two citizenship...

The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill continues to progress through the UK Parliament. Our latest briefing note on the bill examines one particular area of concern: an additional border control power that could jeopardise the Common Travel Area (CTA) between the UK and Ireland. The Bill would extend the existing port and border control powers...