The problem with our rights sector isn’t bias – it’s group-think |
THE UUP has called for an independent review of Northern Ireland’s rights and equality commissions following the Supreme Court ruling last week on the Troubles Legacy Act.
The party claims both organisations have lost cross-community confidence by effectively taking nationalist positions.
The DUP and the TUV have made similar complaints, with TUV leader Jim Allister calling for “heads to roll”.
It would be unfortunate if this leads to criticism of individuals. The problem at the commissions is stultifying group-think across the entire rights and equality sectors.
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Both organisations see themselves as presiding over rational legal mechanisms rather than inherently political and contested questions. Both can seem oblivious to the subjectivity of their own views.
Two years ago, the Human Rights Commission challenged the Rwanda deportation scheme, arguing it reduced an asylum seeker’s rights and therefore breached the Windsor Framework.
The commission won its case. However, the judge at Belfast High Court noted this is a complicated and sometimes finely balanced question. European rights law does allow states to deport people to protect their citizens, even if that breaches deportees’ rights.
Would the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission ever........