NI: Concerns over Brexit impact on human rights in Northern Ireland ‘will persist’ after draft deal
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Professor Colin Harvey
A professor of human rights law has warned that concerns over the impact of Brexit on human rights in Northern Ireland “will persist” after the publication of the draft Withdrawal Agreement.
Professor Colin Harvey of Queen’s University Belfast, who leads the BrexitLawNI project, gave his initial thoughts to Irish Legal News following last night’s publication of the 585-page draft deal.
The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland and annexes occupy pages 302-475 of the deal, which was agreed by Cabinet last night.
Professor Harvey said there is “clearly a special arrangement for Northern Ireland embedded in the Withdrawal Agreement” and “the ‘unless and until’ requirement remains and it cannot end on a unilateral basis”.
However, he warned that “attention should be paid to the provisions that do permit appropriate measures to be taken on a unilateral basis in defined circumstances, and the references to the subsequent agreement that might supersede parts or the whole of the protocol”.
He noted that the “consent principle” of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) has found its way into the Protocol, and the reference to “no diminution” of rights and equality is still linked to the Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity section of the GFA.
However, he added: “Questions will remain about enforcement and implementation, including the reference to ‘dedicated mechanisms’ with respect to the ‘no diminution’ provision.”
The existing provision on the Common Travel Area (CTA) remains, he observed. Earlier in the week, Irish Legal News reported that the human rights commissions on both sides of the Irish border have suggested a new UK-Ireland treaty to put the CTA on a firmer legal basis after Brexit.
The GFA institutions, Professor Harvey noted, “are further woven into the Protocol, and the Specialised Committee and Joint Committee envisaged in the Withdrawal Agreement will be of fundamental significance”. The right and equality annex has been populated “in a very limited way”.
However, he concluded: “Many of the previously expressed concerns, from a human rights and equality perspective, will persist as will questions about whether this (read together with subsequent developments) will in fact protect the Good Friday Agreement ‘in all its parts’.”
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