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The recent ten year anniversary of the introduction of the Human Rights Act (HRA)could be celebrated in no better way than to continue its work through the development of a strong Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland.
2 October 2008 marked the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Human Rights Act (HRA), which made the European Convention on Human Rights part of UK domestic legislation, thus making its protections more accessible to people in the UK.
The Human Rights Consortium believes that while the HRA was a milestone development in protecting civil and political rights in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, its lack of protection for social and economic rights could now be addressed by the introduction of a strong Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland.
Fiona McCausland, Chair of the Human Rights Consortium said:
While the HRA robustly protects civil and political rights, there is an obvious lack of social and economic rights protections therein. Given the current economic climate where people have less disposable income, jobs are insecure and the cost of living in Northern Ireland is consistently increasing, now is the time for social and economic right protections to be on the agenda. A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland which includes these protections is vital. More and more people are feeling the effects of the current downturn in the economy and particularly the most vulnerable in our society need their economic and social welfare protected. A Bill of Rights, if we desired it to, could set core minimum standards of living, health, education etc that the government would be obliged to protect."
"Whilst there is no debating the success of the HRA to date, its glaring lack of social and economic rights protections is obvious and must be rectified. We now have a chance in Northern Ireland to protect economic and social rights through the Bill of Rights. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is currently deliberating on advice on a Bill of Rights, which will be handed over to the Secretary of State on 10th December. Including social and economic rights protections would go some way to ensuring that rights are respected and standards of living here do not fall any further."
The Human Rights Consortium is a coalition of over 120 NGOs, community and voluntary groups and trade unions who campaign for the development of a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
For more information on the Consortium, its members and its campaign for a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights visit www.billofrightsni.org.
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