26 March 2021
Round table on Independent Human Rights Act Review
Law Society House
was the venue for a hybrid Round Table event jointly hosted by the Law Society
of Northern Ireland and the Bar Council of Northern Ireland on the Independent
Human Rights Act Review. The event was chaired by Sir Peter Gross, Review Panel
Chair, and attended by three other members of the Review Panel to include
Baroness Nuala O'Loan - a former solicitor and the first Police Ombudsman
for Northern Ireland.
Participants
included solicitors and barristers from private practice and academia and
representatives from a number of local bodies and organisations with a
particular interest in human rights.
Law Society
President, Rowan White, said:
‘Discussion at the Round Table has allowed for the
further development of a number of the issues which were covered in the
Society’s written response to the Panel’s Call for Evidence. In particular we
welcomed the opportunity to focus on the pivotal role which the Human Rights
Act has in the current constitutional arrangements in Northern Ireland.’
Maria McCloskey,
Chair of the Society’s Human Rights & Equality Group said:
‘The Act is still
very much in its infancy. Over the last twenty years, our understanding of it
has been developing and, amongst human rights practitioners the overwhelming
position is that it has been working extremely effectively. Accordingly this
Review and its timing is of great concern.’
The Review Panel
has advised that it expects to present its Report to Government in July 2021.