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A Charter of Rights for Ireland: An Unknown Quantity in the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement
Author(s)
Date Issued
2007-10
Date Available
2016-04-26T14:04:13Z
Abstract
The basic aim of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement was to try to achieve a political settlement to the conflict in Northern Ireland. While the channels for the settlement were to be primarily institutional, the importance of safeguarding the rights of both communities in Northern Ireland by addressing equality and justice issues was recognized, to varying degrees, by all parties to the process that led to the drafting of the Agreement. As the negotiations progressed, the human rights section of the Agreement grew exponentially, moving ‘from the margins to the mainstream’ so that the final Agreement contains a whole section on human rights protections. Not only have these particular elements of the Agreement come to fruition, but they also have received a considerable amount of public and political interest as well as academic comment and analysis. Buried within the human rights chapter, however, is a concept that has so far received minimal interest or enthusiasm from any quarter. That is the reference in paragraph 10 of the 'Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity' chapter to the possibility of establishing an all-island Charter of Rights. The purpose of this article is threefold. First, it traces the genesis of the Charter of Rights concept through to its inclusion in the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement; secondly, it examines the approach thus far taken by the Joint Committee of the two human rights commissions to the task entrusted to them in relation to the Charter by the Agreement; and finally, it explores some of the issues that need to be considered and the challenges faced by that Committee in future efforts to assist in the construction of any such Charter. In so doing, it describes the political and legal difficulties faced in attempts not only to formulate agreement on human rights but also to create a legal document which may be applicable to two jurisdictions. It concludes by suggesting ways in which the project may be progressed.
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Journal
International and Comparative Law Quarterly
Volume
56
Issue
4
Start Page
797
End Page
835
Copyright (Published Version)
2007 British Institute of International and Comparative Law
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
File(s)
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Name
Final_article_amended_ICLQ_July_2007.doc
Size
209.5 KB
Format
Microsoft Word
Checksum (MD5)
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