§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has received from the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights the report of its study of the extent to which existing legislation provides sufficient protection for human rights and the possible need in this context for a Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MasonI have received this report, which is being published today as a Command Paper, Cmnd. 7009. I am most grateful to the Commission for all the care and consideration which evidently went into the preparation of the report. I am sure that it will make a valuable contribution to the wider public debate now taking place throughout the United Kingdom about the adequacy of existing safeguards for human rights and freedoms.
The Commission has reported that there is already a substantial body of law in Northern Ireland designed to protect human rights there, that this should not be underrated and that the traditional approach of specific measures to deal with specific problems is a valuable one. It has nevertheless concluded that further comprehensive protection for human rights is needed and that this protection could best be provided by the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into the domestic law of the United Kingdom as a whole. It has implicitly rejected the idea of a separate Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland now, although it suggests that it would be desirable for a Charter of Rights to form part of any new constitutional settlement.
The desirability of incorporating the European Convention into the domestic law of the United Kingdom as a whole is among the matters currently being considered by a Select Committee in another place. The Commission's study will clearly be highly relevant in this context. I am therefore making copies of the report available to the Select Committee for its consideration of the relevant parts of it, and I shall await the Select Committee's conclusions with interest.
773WI am still considering the report's other recommendations.