The High Court in Northern Ireland was recently asked in Dillon and Ors v Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to consider whether the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (Legacy Act) was compatible with human rights … [Read more...] about The Sunlit Uplands of Rights Protection in Northern Ireland
The principle of rigorous impartiality For over twenty-five years, the government of the United Kingdom has been under an extraordinary obligation. The last two governments have failed to uphold it. As a consequence, the present condition of the … [Read more...] about Rigorous impartiality: What has been breached in the quest for a DUP deal and why the British will regret it
Northern Ireland’s political dynamics have always been some of the most turbulent inthe United Kingdom. Much of the division and disruption comes from the divide thatexists on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland. Should it continue as part … [Read more...] about Reporting the divide? The media and the constitutional debate in Northern Ireland
Traditionally in Northern Ireland (or NI) mention of constitutional change has meant only one thing: United Kingdom (UK) vs United Ireland (UI). Known simply as ‘the constitutional question’, the issue to which this juxtaposition points – … [Read more...] about Northern Ireland and its (other) constitutional issues
Last week the Constitution Society went on the road to Edinburgh to host two events connected with what is increasingly termed the “territorial constitution”. Some months in the planning, the Society is indebted to our partners who helped make both … [Read more...] about In Review: Two Constitution Society Events in Edinburgh
Human rights lawyers across the UK rejoiced recently as Dominic Raab’s Bill of Rights Bill appeared to be consigned to the dustbin of history. At the same time, recent analysis from Alice Donald and Joelle Grogan revealed the UK’s … [Read more...] about Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Human Rights Act
Review of Richard Johnson and Yuan Yi Zhu, Sceptical Perspectives on the Changing Constitution of the United Kingdom (Bloomsbury, 2023) It is by now a truism that the Brexit referendum of 2016 brought constitutional issues to the fore of … [Read more...] about More Bonaparte than Bagehot
Born outside of Northern Ireland and only three years older than the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, I cannot claim first-hand knowledge of the difference it has made. But that I and those younger than me have not known a Northern Ireland at civil war … [Read more...] about 25 Years Young
The North-South aspects of the 1998 Agreement contain some of its most constitutionally innovative provisions. Although not often acknowledged as such in the UK context, Strand Two institutions and related provisions introduced a quasi-confederal … [Read more...] about 1998 Agreement the North-South Dimension at 25
When the Good Friday Agreement was signed on 10 April 1998 it brought with it a profound sense of hope for people in both the Republic and Northern Ireland. While there wasn’t a sense that the conflict was at an end, there was at last a clear pathway … [Read more...] about 25 years on is Westminster backtracking on human rights in Northern Ireland?
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the momentous Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA) that – among other things – helped to bring to a close the violence of “The Troubles” and established a series of new, interlocking institutions to govern … [Read more...] about Devolution and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement: a stuttering failure?
It is customary, at milestone birthdays, to look back at what we have achieved – since the last milestone, or over our whole lives – and reflect on what we might want to change for the future. A sort of whole-life performance appraisal if you like. … [Read more...] about The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement: its first 25 years
