A wide range of information is available on the proposed Bill of Rights including a number of discussion papers and reports commissioned by the NIHRC and various experts.
Bill of Rights Forum
The Human Rights Commission welcomes the establishment of the Bill of Rights Forum. Much work has been done on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland before and after 2000. There is much material for the Forum to reflect on. The Commission wishes to acknowledge publicly all the work carried out thus far. The newly constituted Human Rights Commission has stressed the importance of both paying due regard to the work already undertaken as well as taking its own mind on the way forward.
The Commission wishes to make clear that it is not bound by the form or content of positions adopted in earlier consultation documents and therefore believes that a paper setting out its views on general principles will be of value. The Human Rights Commission is an independent body and must reserve its final judgement at this stage. It is also the case that it will undertake a detailed and thorough assessment of the work produced by the Bill of Rights Forum before the Commission submits its final advice to the Secretary of State.
NIHRC submission on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland to the Round Table Forum (Bill of Rights Forum) May 2006
A submission to the Round Table Forum on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. May 2006.
NIHRC Working Paper: Taking forward a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. Febrary 2005.
This working paper was produced by former members of the Commission in February 2005 as a “handover document” to record the progress made at that time on its Bill of Rights work. The document does not reflect the thinking of current Commissioners and has not been endorsed as such. The current thinking of the new Commission can be found in the above paper ‘Submission to the Round Table on a Bill Of Rights for Northern Ireland’. It was prepared by the current Commissioners in May 2006 to welcome the establishment of the Bill of Rights Forum and to assist the Forum in its deliberations. The Working Paper is available below.
NIHRC Working Paper. Taking forward a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. February 2005.
NIHRC discussion pamphlets 2000/2001
The Bill of Rights Discussion Pamphlets, 2000/2001
Advice from the Council of Europe
Comments by Council of Europe experts on certain aspects of a future Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, February 2004 - PDF Format
Comments by Council of Europe experts
Advice from the OSCE
Protection of minorities – Advice of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), January 2003 - Word Format
Advice from the OSCE
Training guide
Training for Facilitators, updated January 2002
Bille na gCeart i Scoileanna: Acmhainn d’Iar-bhunscoileanna
Irish Language version of Bill of Rights for Schools (BORIS): A Resource for Post-Primary Schools.