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Northern Ireland Office

Answer

Mr. John D. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when his Department made a formal request to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission asking it to consult and advise on the possibility of a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights; and in what terms was this request. [95505] Mr. George Howarth: My right hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Marjorie Mowlam), the then Secretary of State, wrote to the Chief Commissioner on 24 March 1999, as she was required to do under Section 69(7) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. She invited the Commission to provide advice of the kind referred to in paragraph 4 of the relevant section of the Belfast Agreement, namely: "to consult and to advise on the scope for defining, in Westminster legislation, rights supplementary to those in the European Convention on Human Rights, to reflect the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland, drawing as appropriate on international instruments and experience. These additional rights to reflect the principles of mutual respect for the identity and ethos of both communities and parity of esteem, and--taken together with the ECHR--to constitute a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland." The Act does not set a time limit for receipt of these proposals and the Secretary of State did not ask for the Commission's proposals within a set time.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

337 c130-1W; 95505

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Human rights Legislation Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission