Publications

Submission: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Inquiry on Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol

Read the Northern Ireland Human Rights commission and Equality Commission for Northern Ireland submission to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Inquiry on Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Date produced December 2020.

Below is a summary of the recommendations contained in the report.

You can also download the full document through the links provided.

Implications of the Protocol for Citizens’ Rights and Access to Public Services on the Island of Ireland Equality rights

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (the Commissions) recommend that the Committee calls on the Northern Ireland Executive to progress measures that will:

• ensure that equality law in Northern Ireland is strengthened, simplified and harmonised into a single equality act, and that gaps, including existing gaps between Northern Ireland and Great Britain equality law, are addressed as a matter of urgency; and
• ensure that Northern Ireland equality law keeps pace with changes to equality rights in Ireland that strengthen those rights; specifically rights that are introduced in Ireland as a result of EU Directives (that do not amend or replace the Annex 1 Directives) introduced after the end of the transition period.

Pet Passport Arrangements

• The Commissions recommend the UK Government ensures that there are no adverse impacts on Assistance Dog Owners in Northern Ireland in terms of requirements on pet passport arrangements post the end of the transition period.

Common Travel Area

• The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) recommends that the Common Travel Area and associated rights are enshrined in law by agreeing a comprehensive bilateral treaty between the UK and Irish governments. The NIHRC further recommends that this agreement codifies reciprocal free movement rights and rights to employment, education, health care and justice and security on the basis of maintaining the same level of protection as exists during the transition period and that it is incorporated into domestic legislation.

Birthright Commitment

• The NIHRC advises that the birthright commitment in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement 1998 recognises the right for all the people of Northern Ireland to identify, and be accepted, as Irish or British or both.
• The NIHRC recommends that UK nationality and immigration laws are amended to reflect the birthright commitment to identify, and be accepted, as Irish or British or both without any loss of rights or entitlements.

Rights of Irish citizens

• The NIHRC recommends that, to protect against the diminution of rights contained in Article 2 of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol, Irish citizens maintain the procedural safeguards against deportation contained in the EU Citizens’ Directive and associated case law.

EU citizens

• As the Common Travel Area is built on reciprocation of rights and equality of treatment in both jurisdictions the NIHRC recommends that consideration should be given to reciprocating the approach of the law in Ireland, which exempts British citizens from deportation, in UK immigration law.
• The NIHRC recommends that there is clarification that the rights of all people who are entitled to acquire settled and pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme before 30 June 2021 will continue to be protected after January 2021 and that no one will be subject to any restriction on the basis of not having acquired settled status prior to the closure of the scheme.

Frontier workers

• The NIHRC advises that people living and working across the border are in a particularly vulnerable situation as the transition period ends and recommend that support is provided to frontline advisers and to employers to ensure that no eligible worker or self-employed person is left unprotected by the scheme.

Implications of the Protocol for Devolution Common Frameworks

• The Commissions recommend that consideration is given by the UK Government as to how the common frameworks process, including the framework on equality law, could be used to ensure that equality standards are maintained and strengthened across the UK, and so to ensure compliance with international obligations including the UK Government’s obligations under Article 2 of the Protocol and international human rights conventions, such as the UN CRPD.

Post-Brexit trade policy

The Commissions recommend that:

• Human rights impact assessments should be conducted in respect of any future trade agreements, to the standard set out in UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Guidelines.
• Legislation should be passed to preclude conclusion or ratification of any international trade or investment agreement that would require or permit the reduction of any protections for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Northern Ireland, including those relating to non-discrimination and equality, ensured under UK law.
• Any future trade agreement with the EU should include a commitment to the non-regression of fundamental rights at work, including rights such as non-discrimination and equal pay, fair working conditions and employment standards, as well as a commitment to keep pace with future EU laws that strengthen equality and human rights in Northern Ireland, including protections that enhance equality and human rights in the workplace.

New Legislation and the Protocol UK Internal Market Bill

• The Commissions recommend that the agreement in principle reached by the EU and UK Government is fully implemented and the provisions in the Internal Market Bill that limit the scope of the ECHR are removed and will not be reintroduced through any similar provisions in subsequent legislation, such as the Taxation Bill. Furthermore, the Commissions welcome Lord Callanan’s clarifications on how the Internal Market Bill relates to the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol, but stress that any subsequent legislation or actions should have no adverse effects on the non-diminution obligation under Article 2 of the Protocol.

Draft Parliamentary legislation and judicial proceedings

The Commissions recommend that the UK Government:

• puts measures in place to ensure that all draft Parliamentary legislation relating to Northern Ireland and relevant to the commitment in Article 2(1) of the Protocol is referred to the Commissions at an early stage to facilitate timely advice, and so as to help ensure compliance with that commitment;
• gives consideration to putting in place additional measures so as to ensure that UK Ministers comply with the Article 2(1) of the Protocol’s obligation, including consideration being given to introducing a ministerial statement of compatibility;
• gives consideration to establishing a mechanism by which the dedicated mechanism is informed, in a timely manner, of judicial proceedings and/or court decisions, including Northern Ireland decisions, relevant to the commitment set out in Article 2 of the Protocol.

EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Bill of Rights for NI

• The Commissions recommend that the UK Government recognises the prima facie case for a Bill of Rights reflecting the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland, and the fact that this case will be amplified if the EU Charter no longer has domestic force.

Effective Implementation of the Protocol Information exchange on EU legislative developments

The Commissions recommend that the UK Government:

• ensures that arrangements are put in place whereby the dedicated mechanism will be kept informed, in a timely manner, of any planned, or adopted new EU acts that fall within the scope of the Annex 1 Directives, as well as of EU acts within the Protocol, that are relevant to the Article 2 commitment, but which neither amend nor replace the Annex 1 Directives.
• provides clarification as to how the Specialised Committee will engage with the dedicated mechanism.

Engagement with the Joint Consultative Working Group

• The Commissions recommend that the UK Government gives consideration to putting in place appropriate arrangements so as to ensure that there is regular and meaningful engagement between the Joint Consultative Working Group and the dedicated mechanism, as well as with equality and human rights stakeholders in Northern Ireland, in relation to the commitment set out in Article 2 of the Protocol.

Access to European equality and human rights networks

• The Commissions recommend that the UK Government takes steps, in liaison with the EU, to ensure that the Commissions continue to have access to, and/or engagement with, the relevant European networks and agencies on the similar terms that existed prior to Brexit.

Parliamentary Scrutiny

The Commissions recommend that:

• robust arrangements are established to enable effective scrutiny by Parliamentary Committees, including the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, of the UK Government’s compliance with Article 2(1) of the Protocol.
• that relevant Parliamentary Committees, including the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, provide opportunities for the dedicated mechanism and equality and human rights stakeholders in Northern Ireland to engage with the Committees on matters relating to compliance with the Article 2 of the Protocol.