Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
BRITISH-IRISH INTERGOVERNMENTAL
CONFERENCE
1. There will be a new British-Irish
Agreement dealing
with the totality of relationships. It
will establish a
standing British-Irish
Intergovernmental Conference,
which will subsume both the
Anglo-Irish
Intergovernmental Council and the
Intergovernmental Conference
established under the
1985 Agreement.
2. The Conference will bring together
the British and
Irish Governments to promote bilateral
co-operation
at all levels on all matters of mutual
interest within
the competence of both Governments.
3. The Conference will meet as
required at Summit
level (Prime Minister and Taoiseach).
Otherwise,
Governments will be represented by
appropriate
Ministers. Advisers, including police
and security
advisers, will attend as appropriate.
4. All decisions will be by agreement
between both
Governments. The Governments will make
determined efforts to resolve
disagreements between
them. There will be no derogation from
the
sovereignty of either Government.
5. In recognition of the Irish
Government's special
interest in Northern Ireland and of
the extent to
which issues of mutual concern arise
in relation to
Northern Ireland, there will be
regular and frequent
meetings of the Conference concerned
with
non-devolved Northern Ireland matters,
on which the
Irish Government may put forward views
and
proposals. These meetings, to be
co-chaired by the
Minister for Foreign Affairs and the
Secretary of State
for Northern Ireland, would also deal
with all-island
and cross-border co-operation on
non-devolved
issues.
6. Co-operation within the framework
of the
Conference will include facilitation
of co-operation
in security matters. The Conference
also will address,
in particular, the areas of rights,
justice, prisons and
policing in Northern Ireland (unless
and until
responsibility is devolved to a
Northern Ireland
administration) and will intensify
co-operation
between the two Governments on the
all-island or
cross-border aspects of these matters.
7. Relevant executive members of the
Northern
Ireland Administration will be
involved in meetings of
the Conference, and in the reviews
referred to in
paragraph 9 below to discuss
non-devolved
Northern Ireland matters.
8. The Conference will be supported by
officials of the
British and Irish Governments,
including by a standing
joint Secretariat of officials dealing
with
non-devolved Northern Ireland matters.
9. The Conference will keep under
review the
workings of the new British-Irish
Agreement and the
machinery and institutions established
under it,
including a formal published review
three years after
the Agreement comes into effect.
Representatives of
the Northern Ireland Administration
will be invited to
express views to the Conference in
this context. The
Conference will contribute as
appropriate to any
review of the overall political
agreement arising from
the multi-party negotiations but will
have no power
to override the democratic
arrangements set up by
this Agreement.
RIGHTS, SAFEGUARDS AND EQUALITY OF
OPPORTUNITY
Human Rights
1. The parties affirm their commitment
to the mutual
respect, the civil rights and the
religious liberties of
everyone in the community. Against the
background
of the recent history of communal
conflict, the
parties affirm in particular:
� the right of free
political thought;
� the right to freedom and
expression of
religion;
� the right to pursue
democratically
national and political
aspirations;
� the right to seek
constitutional change
by peaceful and legitimate
means;
� the right to freely choose
one's place
of residence;
� the right to equal
opportunity in all
social and economic
activity, regardless
of class, creed, disability,
gender or
ethnicity;
� the right to freedom from
sectarian
harassment; and
� the right of women to full
and equal
political participation.
United Kingdom Legislation
2. The British Government will
complete incorporation
into Northern Ireland law of the
European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR),
with direct
access to the courts, and remedies for
breach of the
Convention, including power for the
courts to
overrule Assembly legislation on
grounds of
inconsistency.
3. Subject to the outcome of public
consultation
underway, the British Government
intends, as a
particular priority, to create a
statutory obligation on
public authorities in Northern Ireland
to carry out all
their functions with due regard to the
need to
promote equality of opportunity in
relation to religion
and political opinion; gender; race;
disability; age;
marital status; dependants; and sexual
orientation.
Public bodies would be required to
draw up
statutory schemes showing how they
would
implement this obligation. Such
schemes would
cover arrangements for policy
appraisal, including
an assessment of impact on relevant
categories,
public consultation, public access to
information
and services, monitoring and
timetables.
4. The new Northern Ireland Human
Rights
Commission (see paragraph 5 below)
will be invited
to consult and to advise on the scope
for defining, in
Westminster legislation, rights
supplementary to those
in the European Convention on Human
Rights, to
reflect the particular circumstances
of Northern
Ireland, drawing as appropriate on
international
instruments and experience. These
additional rights to
reflect the principles of mutual
respect for the identity
and ethos of both communities and
parity of
esteem, and - taken together with the
ECHR - to
constitute a Bill of Rights for
Northern Ireland. Among
the issues for consideration by the
Commission will
be:
� the formulation of a
general
obligation on government and
public
bodies fully to respect, on
the basis of
equality of treatment, the
identity and
ethos of both communities in
Northern
Ireland; and
� a clear formulation of the
rights not to
be discriminated against and
to equality
of opportunity in both the
public and
private sectors.
New Institutions in Northern
Ireland
5. A new Northern Ireland Human Rights
Commission,
with membership from Northern Ireland
reflecting the
community balance, will be established
by
Westminster legislation, independent
of Government,
with an extended and enhanced role
beyond that
currently exercised by the Standing
Advisory
Commission on Human Rights, to include
keeping
under review the adequacy and
effectiveness of laws
and practices, making recommendations
to
Government as necessary; providing
information and
promoting awareness of human rights;
considering
draft legislation referred to them by
the new
Assembly; and, in appropriate cases,
bringing court
proceedings or providing assistance to
individuals
doing so.
6. Subject to the outcome of public
consultation
currently underway, the British
Government intends a
new statutory Equality Commission to
replace the
Fair Employment Commission, the Equal
Opportunities Commission (NI), the
Commission for
Racial Equality (NI) and the
Disability Council. Such a
unified Commission will advise on,
validate and
monitor the statutory obligation and
will investigate
complaints of default.
7. It would be open to a new Northern
Ireland
Assembly to consider bringing together
its
responsibilities for these matters
into a dedicated
Department of Equality.
8. These improvements will build on
existing
protections in Westminster legislation
in respect of
the judiciary, the system of justice
and policing.
Comparable Steps by the Irish
Government
9. The Irish Government will also take
steps to further
strengthen the protection of human
rights in its
jurisdiction. The Government will,
taking account of
the work of the All-Party Oireachtas
Committee on
the Constitution and the Report of the
Constitution
Review Group, bring forward measures
to strengthen
and underpin the constitutional
protection of human
rights. These proposals will draw on
the European
Convention on Human Rights and other
international
legal instruments in the field of
human rights and the
question of the incorporation of the
ECHR will be
further examined in this context. The
measures
brought forward would ensure at least
an equivalent
level of protection of human rights as
will pertain in
Northern Ireland. In addition, the
Irish Government
will:
� establish a Human Rights
Commission
with a mandate and remit
equivalent to
that within Northern
Ireland;
� proceed with arrangements
as quickly
as possible to ratify the
Council of
Europe Framework Convention
on
National Minorities (already
ratified by
the UK);
� implement enhanced
employment
equality legislation;
� introduce equal status
legislation; and
� continue to take further
active steps to
demonstrate its respect for
the different
traditions in the island of
Ireland.
--
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