Mapping the Rollback? Human Rights Provisions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 15 years on November 2013 Mapping the Rollback? A Conference Report Mapping the Rollback? Human Rights Provisions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 15 years on Report of a conference held in the Great Hall, Queens University Belfast, 26 April 2013 Organised by the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) in collaboration with the Transitional Justice Institute of the University of Ulster and the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University Belfast. Mapping the Rollback? A Conference Report © Committee on the Administration of Justice December 2013 The material may be reproduced, free of charge, in any format or medium without specific permission, provided the reproduction is not for financial or material gain. The material must be reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. If the material is to be republished or issued to others, acknowledgement must be given to its source, copyright status, and date of publication. This publication is available on our website. CAJ Ltd Committee on the Administration of Justice Ltd 2nd Floor, Sturgen Building 9-15 Queen Street Belfast BT1 6EA Tel: 028 9031 6000 Fax: 028 9031 4583 E-mail [email protected] Website: www.caj.org.uk ISBN 978 1 873285 80 0 The views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of CAJ. Mapping the Rollback? A Conference Report What is CAJ? The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) was established in 1981 and is an independent non-governmental organization affiliated to the International Federation of Human Rights. CAJ takes no position on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and is firmly opposed to the use of violence for political ends. Its membership is drawn from across the community. The Committee seeks to ensure the highest standards in the administration of justice in Northern Ireland by ensuring that the government complies with its responsibilities in international human rights law. The CAJ works closely with other domestic and international human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) and Human Rights Watch and makes regular submissions to a number of United Nations and European bodies established to protect human rights. CAJ’s activities include - publishing reports, conducting research, holding conferences, campaigning locally and internationally, individual casework and providing legal advice. Its areas of work are extensive and include policing, emergency laws and the criminal justice system, equality and advocacy for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. CAJ however would not be in a position to do any of this work, without the financial help of its funders, individual donors and charitable trusts (since CAJ does not take government funding). We would like to take this opportunity to thank Atlantic Philanthropies, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Hilda Mullen Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Oak Foundation, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and UNISON. The organization has been awarded several international human rights prizes, including the Reebok Human Rights Award and the Council of Europe Human Rights Prize. Mapping the Rollback? A Conference Report What is the University of Ulster’s Transitional Justice Institute The Transitional Justice Institute (TJI), established in 2003, has rapidly become internationally recognized as a leading centre in developing the field of transitional justice – broadly, the study of law in societies emerging from conflict. It has placed research emanating from Northern Ireland at the forefront of both local and global academic, legal and policy debates. The TJI is dedicated to examining how law and legal institutions assist (or not) the move from conflict to peace. A central assumption of the research agenda of the TJI is that the role of law in situations of transition is different from that in other times. In contrast to commonly held understandings of the law as underpinning order, stability and community, the role of law in transitional situations is a less understood role of assisting in the transition from a situation of conflict to one of ‘peace’ (perhaps better understood as non-violent conflict). The Institute has established authoritative analyses of rapidly developing legal controversies in Northern Ireland for the benefit of a global audience. It also brings comparative experiences and international influences into the Northern Irish debate. TJI espouses an 'active research' model, wherein engagement with institutions, policy-makers and communities (internationally and locally) generates research, and research generates engagement. What is the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University Belfast The Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University Belfast was established in 1990 and for nearly a quarter of a century has acted as a means of consolidating and providing focus for the School of Law’s expertise in human rights research and teaching. Its aim, which continues to be successfully achieved, is to support a community of researchers in the area of human rights law and encourage co-operation with other researchers and human rights institutions, both at the local and international levels. The Human Rights Centre is committed to providing a high-quality learning experience for its postgraduate students. Our postgraduate human rights programmes offers substantial scope for independent study and research on all aspects of human rights law and politics. The Centre regularly organises events and its website provides useful information on conferences, seminars and events. Mapping the Rollback? A Conference Report Contents Introduction 1 Conference Programme 5 Speakers Bios 7 Opening Plenary: 15 Overview: Professor Colin Harvey, QUB Human Rights Centre Reflections of a Participant, Professor Monica McWilliams, TJI University of Ulster 16 CAJ ‘Mapping the Rollback’ Matrix Paper, Daniel Holder, CAJ – See Appendix 1. Conference Papers: Panel 1: Human rights and equality commitments 15 years on Where are we coming from? Maggie Beirne, former Director CAJ 17 The Irish Government's Compliance with its commitments Michael Farrell, FLAC 21 From anticipation to frustration Patricia McKeown, UNISON 29 Panel 2: Policing, justice and community 15 years on Policing 15 Years on, Mary O'Rawe, former chair of CAJ 35 The State and community control, Fiona McCausland, community activist 39 Specialist Session 1: Protection of Rights Frameworks 15 years on 45 The Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, Kevin Hanratty, Human Rights Consortium 46 The Irish language and the Good Friday Agreement, Janet Muller, Pobal 51 Specialist Session 2: Equality 15 years on 57 The Implementation of Socio-Economic Rights; Lessons in Accountability, Kate Ward, Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR) 58 Mapping the rollback of children’s rights, Paddy Kelly, Children’s Law Centre 64 ‘The right of women to full and equal political participation,’ Emma Patterson, CAJ 73 Specialist Session 3: Policing, Security and Justice reform 15 years on 77 Emergency law and reform, Niall Murphy, Solicitor KRW 78 Policing accountability, Mick Beyers, former CAJ policing programme officer 90 Specialist Session 4: Dealing with the Past 95 Victims services 15 years on, Alan McBride, WAVE Trauma 97 Victims Services, presentation by Mark Thompson, Relatives for Justice 103 The Historical Enquiries Team, Patricia Lundy, University of Ulster 108 Appendix 1: CAJ ‘Mapping the Rollback’ Matrix Paper 121 Appendix 2: Delegates List 141 Mapping the Rollback? A Conference Report Mapping the Rollback? A Conference Report Introduction CAJ in collaboration with the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) of the University of Ulster and the Human Rights Centre at Queen's University Belfast organised the ‘Mapping the Rollback?’ conference, which marked the 15th Anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. The conference took place in the Great Hall, Queens University Belfast on the 26 April 2013 and was attended by a full capacity audience of around 150 delegates from across civil society. The objective of the conference, and this report, was precisely to ‘map the rollback’ from the human rights commitments made as part of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and its subsequent implementation Agreements (Weston Park Agreement 2001, Joint Declaration 2003, St Andrews Agreement 2006, Hillsborough 2010) and the various reviews and commissions (e.g. the Independent [Patten] Commission on Policing) which emerged as part of the process. Whilst not taking a position on the 1998 Agreement per se (given as it dealt with the constitutional status of Northern Ireland on which we have no view) CAJ, along with others, did make substantial efforts to ensure human rights were mainstreamed into the peace settlement and Agreement itself. There was considerable success. A cursory search of the text of the Agreement showing that the words ‘right’ or ‘rights’ appears 61 times and the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson noted “...the Good Friday Agreement is conspicuous by the centrality it gives to equality and human rights concerns.” The range of subsequent international Agreements between the two sovereign governments to implement and take forward the settlement also contained a number of human rights commitments (although unfortunately no dispute resolution mechanism to assist implementation). CAJ has long pressed for enforcement to ensure that the elements of the peace settlement which