Rights Watch

British Irish RIGHTS WATCH SUBMISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONCERNING THE UNITED KINGDOM’S C OMPLIANCE WITH THE INTERNATIONAL C OVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS SEPTEMBER 2007 1. INTRODUCTION <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">1.1 </li><li style="flex:1">British Irish RIG HTS WATC H is a n independent non-governmenta l orga nisa tion </li></ul>tha t monitors the huma n rights dimension of the c onflic t a nd the pea c e proc ess in Northern Irela nd. Our servic es a re a va ila ble free of c ha rge to a nyone whose huma n rights ha ve been a ffec ted by the c onflic t, rega rdless of religious, politic a l or c ommunity a ffilia tions, a nd we ta ke no position on the eventua l c onstitutiona l outc ome of the pea c e process. <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">1.2 </li><li style="flex:1">This submission to the Huma n Rights C ommittee of the United Na tions </li></ul>c onc erns the United Kingdom’s observa nce of the provisions of the Interna tiona l C ovena nt on C ivil a nd Politic al Rights (IC C PR). All our c omments stem direc tly from our work a nd experienc e. In the interests of brevity, we have kept deta ils to a minimum, but if a ny member of the C ommittee would like further informa tion a bout a nything in this submission, we would be ha ppy to supply it. Throughout the submission we respec tfully suggest questions tha t the C ommittee ma y wish to pose to the United Kingdom (UK) during its exa mina tion of the UK’s sixth periodic report. 2. THE UNITED KINGDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">2.1 </li><li style="flex:1">In its 2001 examina tion of the United Kingdom’s observa nc e of the </li></ul>provisions of the IC C PR, the Huma n Rights C ommittee rec ommended tha t the United Kingdom inc orpora te a ll the provisions of the IC C PR into <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">domestic law1. </li><li style="flex:1">However, the UK ha s yet to c omply with this </li></ul>rec ommenda tion. Suggested question: ·What plans does the UK have for incorporating all provisions of the IC CPR into domestic law and what is the timetable? <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">2.2 </li><li style="flex:1">The Huma n Rights C ommittee’s la st exa mina tion of the UK’s observa nc e </li></ul>of the provisions of the IC C PR further rec ommended tha t the UK should c onsider, a s a priority, a c c ession to the first Optional Protoc ol2. The UK ha s not however taken a ny steps to meet this rec ommenda tion, thereby depriving people within the UK of the right of individual petition to the Huma n Rights C ommittee. Suggested question: ·What plans does the UK have for ratifying the Optional Protocol and what is the timetable? <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">2.3 </li><li style="flex:1">In Oc tober 2000, the UK ena c ted the Huma n Rights Ac t 1998 (HRA), whic h </li></ul>wa s intended to inc orpora te most of the provisions of the Europea n 12C onc luding Observa tions of the Huma n Rights C ommittee: United Kingdom of G rea t Brita in a nd Northern Irela nd, 05/11/2001; C C PR/CO/73/UK, C C PR/CO/73/UKOT, pa ra gra ph 7. Ibid 1 C onvention on Huma n Rights (EC HR) into its domestic la w. Due to the simila rity of ma ny of the provisions of the EC HR a nd IC C PR, the Huma n Rights C ommittee found tha t, through the HRA, the UK ha s a lso inc orpora ted ma ny IC C PR rights into its domestic lega l order3. However, the House of Lords ha s recently held tha t, instea d of i n c o r p o r a t ing the EC HR rights into domestic law, the HRA merely g i v es e f f e c t to these rights in domestic la w4. Therefore, the UK c ourts do not ha ve to a pply the HRA retrospec tively a nd require the G overnment to remedy a ny brea c h tha t oc c urred prior to the c oming into forc e of the HRA in Oc tober 20005. Individua ls who ha ve claims for viola tion of their huma n rights a rising from inc idents before 2 Oc tober 2000 ca n therefore not vindic a te their rights before the domestic c ourts. This a pproa c h wa s more rec ently c onfirmed in the 2007 House of Lords dec ision in R (on the app l ic a t i o n of H urst) v. C o mm i ssi o ner of Po l ic e o f the Met r o p o l is6. The C ourt held tha t, where the positive obliga tion to protec t life ha s not a risen in domestic la w a s the dea th wa s prior to 2 Oc tober 2000, the proc edura l obliga tion to investiga te the dea th c a nnot give rise to a domestic obliga tion beca use it is c onsequential upon the substa ntive obliga tion to protec t life. Therefore, the requirement set out in sec tion 3 of the HRA – to rea d a nd give effec t to all legisla tion, so fa r a s possible, in a wa y tha t is c ompa tible with C onvention rights - does not mea n tha t public bodies must have rega rd to Artic le 2 EC HR a nd other C onvention rights where the dea th oc c urred prior to the HRA c oming into forc e. G iven the simila rity between provisions of the IC C PR a nd EC HR, this denies individuals the full protec tion of IC C PR rights. Suggested question: ·How will the UK ensure that the provisions of the ECHR are fully incorporated into domestic law and that human rights violations retrospective to the HRA are fully investigated? 2.4 2.5 The HRA did not inc orpora te Artic le 13 of the EC HR into domestic la w, whic h provides for a n effec tive remedy for brea c hes of C onvention rights. Suggested question: ·Will the UK incorporate Artic le 13 of the ECHR into domestic law? Under the terms of the G ood Frida y peac e a greement in Northern Irela nd, the UK ha s esta blished a Huma n Rights C ommission for Northern Irela nd, whic h is c urrently enga ged in dra wing up a Bill of Rights to supplement the <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">EC HR. </li><li style="flex:1">The C ommission ha s produc ed two dra ft Bills of Rights, in </li></ul>September 2001 a nd in April 2004. Although the C ommission c onsulted widely over the first dra ft, it wa s fla wed, in tha t it c onfused ma jority a nd minority rights, a nd a ppea red to reflec t c onsidera ble disa greement a mongst c ommission members. By the time the sec ond dra ft wa s 3456Ibid In re M c K e r r [2004] UKHL 12 Ibid [2007] UKHL 13 2produc ed, the C ommission ha d lost public c onfidenc e, a nd the G overnment felt under no obliga tion to move the proc ess along. The C ommission ha d effec tively bec ome a ‘politic a l footba ll’, la c king mea ningful politic a l ba c king, a nd c oming under a tta c k from unionist politic ia ns whic h the G overnment fa iled to a dequa tely defend. Fina lly, in September 2006 - some four yea rs a fter it wa s proposed - a Bill of Rights Forum c onsisting of representa tives of politic a l pa rties a nd c ivil soc iety wa s esta blished. This ha s now a greed terms of referenc e a nd ha s set up a number of working groups on pa rtic ular a spec ts of the Bill of Rights. The Forum is due to submit rec ommenda tions to the C ommission a nd UK G overnment in Ma rc h 2008. However, there a re c onc erns tha t the G overnment ma y be influenc ing the deba te behind the sc enes, a s the timeta ble for dra fting of the Bill is short a nd resourc es a re too limited for proper outrea c h to ta ke pla c e7. Suggested questions: ···How will the Government ensure that the Bill of Rights Forum is best placed to establish an effective Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland? Will the Government guarantee the Forum the necessary resources to conclude its work effec tively? Should the Forum require more time to finish its work, will the Government extend the timetable? <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">2.6 </li><li style="flex:1">On 3 July 2007, the UK G overnment revea led deta ils of its route ma p to </li></ul>c onstitutiona l reform, a s set out in the G reen Pa per “The G overna nc e of Brita in”8. This proposes the c rea tion of “A Bill of Rights a nd Duties” for Brita in, which will draw upon a nd a dd to the provisions of the HRA, a nd therefore the EC HR a nd its c orresponding a rticles in the IC C PR. It is envisa ged tha t the Bill will give people a clea r idea of wha t they c a n expec t from public a uthorities, a nd from ea c h other, a nd tha t it will set out a fra mework for giving pra c tic al effec t to c ommon values.9 C onserva tive pa rty a nd opposition lea der Da vid C a meron, on the other ha nd, ha s rec ently c a lled for the HRA to be entirely sc ra pped in fa vour of a British Bill of Rights, whic h he c la ims will better bala nc e rights a nd responsibilities “in a wa y tha t c himes with British tra ditions a nd c ommon sense”. It is submitted tha t the esta blishment of a Bill of Rights for Brita in should be enc ouraged sinc e, a s set out in pa ra graphs 2.3 a nd 2.4 above, the HRA does not provide for a n effec tive remedy for huma n rights viola tions, a nd the judgments in Mc Ke rr a nd Hurst mean tha t there is a twin-tra c k system for the vindic a tion of people’s huma n rights, depending on when the viola tion oc c urred. The G overnment should lea rn from the Northern Irela nd Bill of Rights experienc e, c onc entra ting a s much on the process a nd timing of the Bill a nd ensuring proper c onsulta tion, a s on its <ul style="display: flex;"><li style="flex:1">c ontent. </li><li style="flex:1">Furthermore, sinc e the Northern Irela nd Bill of Rights ha s </li></ul>7Funding ha s only been ma de a va ila ble for two outrea ch workers for the pe riod mid-Oc tober 2007 to 31 Ma rc h 2008 <a href="/goto?url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.off</a><a href="/goto?url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf" target="_blank">i</a><a href="/goto?url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf" target="_blank">c ia l-</a><a href="/goto?url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf" target="_blank">d</a><a href="/goto?url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf" target="_blank">oc ument</a><a href="/goto?url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf" target="_blank">s</a><a href="/goto?url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf" target="_blank">.</a><a href="/goto?url=http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm71/7170/7170.pdf" target="_blank">gov.uk/doc ument/c m71/7170/7170.pdf </a>Ibid, paragraph 209 893progressed so fa r, it ma kes sense for the UK to wa it for the outc ome of tha t proc ess before emba rking on a British Bill of Rights, so tha t lessons c a n be lea rned from the Northern Irela nd experienc e. Suggested questions: ·In relation to a British Bill of Rights, what plans does the UK have for the creation of a successful drafting process and for c onsultation with relevant stakeholders? Will the UK wait until the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights process is concluded before introducing a British Bill of Rights?

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