Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

HL Deb 28 October 2002 vol 640 c2WA

Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, in acting as recorded in the minute 3.2.3 of 8 April, is in breach of Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1688. [HL5912]

Lord Williams of Mostyn:

Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1688 was most recently and authoritatively considered by the House of Lords in Pepper v Hart (1993). At the time Lord Browne-Wilkinson said at [1993] AC 638G:

In my judgement the plain meaning of Article 9, viewed against the historical background in which it was enacted, was to ensure that Members of Parliament were not subjected to any penalty, civil or criminal for what they said and were able, contrary to the previous assertion of the Stuart monarchy, to discuss what they, as opposed to the monarch, chose to have discussed.

In light of this, the Human Rights Commission, as recorded in the minute 3.2.3 of 8 April, was not in breach of Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1688.