NICVA response to consultation on a forum on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland

NICVA welcomes the government’s commitment to establish a Forum on a Bill of Rights in December 2006, to have an independent chair, to be as inclusive as possible, and to be adequately supported and resourced. In view of the lack of time available for consultation, we will offer several comments we consider key to achieving agreement about the rights people want protected in a peaceful and shared Northern Ireland.

Terms of reference

We would recommend expansion of the draft terms of reference to clarify that the Forum’s report should have proper weighting, especially if it represents consensus between political parties and civic society. Agreement among the Assembly parties has not been achieved to date and therefore agreed recommendations should represent more than a document to ‘inform’ NIHRC’s advice to the Secretary of State. We would argue that NIHRC should be available as an independent resource of expertise and should comment on the final proposals from a legal and technical perspective before they are presented to government.

In order to help move the debate on we would warn against limiting discussion to well-rehearsed interpretations of additional rights that ‘reflect the principles of mutual respect for the identity and ethos of both communities and parity of esteem’. To overcome the potential danger of ‘getting stuck’ in entrenched positions we suggest that the terms of reference should take account of demographic changes since 1998, the widespread public support for socio-economic rights and possess enough flexibility to facilitate the inclusion of rights such as environmental rights and others that may emerge as a result of further deliberation.

Timescale

We understand the reasoning behind the deadline of 30 September 2007 to facilitate NIHRC’s advice to government. However we would argue that we have waited for many years for this opportunity and it would be a pity to rush the process which needs to engage with as many people as possible in civic society. We would recommend December 2007 to coincide with International Human Rights Day in order to promote openness and accessibility, reinvigorate the discussion and develop ownership. In fact we would urge that the Forum should take evidence in public at a range of locations across Northern Ireland. We would also argue that the Forum members need time to communicate with broad membership bases to ensure reflection of wider perspectives.

Chair

We welcome the statement that the chair should be fully independent with the skills appropriate to the performance of this high profile and demanding role. We would argue that the independent chair should be international with expertise in human rights in order to help facilitate agreement. We welcome the provision of a secretariat but would add the need for it to be independent and appointed by the chair.

Membership

NICVA agrees that the Forum should be reflective of a broad range of political opinion and civic society. We would argue that the main point of a Bill of Rights, apart from creating a culture of human rights for everyone in Northern Ireland, is the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of the most disadvantaged. We would recommend that Concordia, as the representative body of the social partners, would be a useful vehicle for selecting members from civic society, with the balance in favour of groups which represent the most disadvantaged who traditionally have difficulty in voicing and accessing their rights.

We note the document’s suggestion that the Forum should seek the views of those beyond its immediate membership. As stated above, NICVA would urge the importance of widespread engagement to encourage ownership of the Bill of Rights and therefore would argue that the Forum’s role in facilitating discussion among wider society must be mandatory. We recommended earlier that public hearings across a range of locations would be an important part of its remit.

We hope that this response proves useful and we look forward to feedback from the consultation.