Suchergebnisse

This is an edited version of a talk given by a human rights activist from Belfast on 26 June 2017 at a seminar, held at IRR, to discuss the implications of 'Brexit' on the Good Friday Agreement and the UK-Ireland Common Travel Area. The talk took place on the day of publication of the 'confidence and supply' agreement between the Democratic Unionist Party and the minority Conservative government. It discussed the prospects for the Good Friday Agreement in terms of the new alliance; whether populist anti-migrant racism will become institutionalised via discretionary border checks and entry decisions; how the ethos and actions of the UK Border Force fit with the peace settlement's promise of non-discriminatory, human rights-compliant and accountable policing, and whether Brexit spells the end of the Common Travel Area and the further isolation of migrant communities.

Following a symposium in June 2012, on 'Policing communities: race, class and the state' (organised by the Institute of Race Relations and the Power, Conflict and Justice Research Group, Edge Hill University, in conjunction with the Tottenham Defence Campaign), the author traces how police accountability has evolved following the reforms promised on the back of the Good Friday Agreement. He demonstrates how this relates to the current 'secret justice' agenda, whereby the UK government is trying to extend 'closed material procedures' to most civil court cases. The Belfast-based human rights organisation, Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), with an interest in both of these areas, has lobbied extensively for the creation of a genuinely independent police complaints mechanism and campaigned for an end to 'emergency'-type legislation rather than its normalisation. Much of its recent efforts have related to preventing the rollback of what was actually progressed or promised following the Agreement. For a wider discussion of issues raised at the symposium, see the article by Liz Fekete in her commentary, 'Total policing: reflections from the frontline', in this issue.

In recent years, there have been eleven distinct proposals on dealing with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland. Most recently, a new approach to legacy was put forward by the UK government in a statement delivered by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) in March 2020. Prosecutions, Imprisonment and the Stormont House Agreement: A Critical Analysis of Proposals on Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland reviews all of these proposals, benchmarking each against binding human rights obligations, the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), and the Stormont House Agreement (SHA) (1). The report was prepared by a team of NI-based experts, comprised of CAJ staff and academics from Queen's University Belfast. It is intended to offer a contribution to the ongoing deliberations of the UK and Irish governments, NI political parties, and civil society groups as they consider how to deal with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland.

With international human rights under challenge, this book represents a comprehensive critique that adds a social policy perspective to recent political and legalistic analysis. Expert contributors draw on local and global examples to review constructs of universal rights and their impact on social policy and human welfare. With thorough analysis of their strengths, weaknesses and enforcement, it sets out their role in domestic and geopolitical affairs. Including a forward by Albie Sachs, this book presents an honest appraisal of both the concepts of international human rights and their realities. It will engage those with an interest in social policy, ethics, politics, international relations, civil society organisations and human rights-based approaches to campaigning and policy development