HC Deb 31 July 1978 vol 955 cc145-7W
Mr. Cohen

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps have been taken since 1969 to protect human and civil rights in Northern Ireland and to prevent discrimination on grounds of political and religious belief.

Mr. Mason

Since 1969, and in response to widespread public demand, the Government of Northern Ireland introduced a number of measures which sought, either wholly or in part, to increase the protection afforded to civil and human rights in Northern Ireland and to prevent discrimination on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion. The most important of these were:

  1. (i) The Electoral Law Act (NI) 1969—which provided for universal adult suffrage for local council elections. It also lowered the voting age to 18 for both Northern Ireland parliamentary and local council elections;
  2. (ii) The Local Government Act (NI) 1969—which established an independent Local Government Ward Boundaries Commission —whose functions are now fulfilled by periodically appointed local government boundaries commissioners—to make recommendations on the boundaries of district electoral divisions;
  3. (iii) The Parliamentary Commissioner Act (NI) 1969—which created the post of Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration to investigate complaints of maladministration—including discrimination—against Northern Ireland Government Departments;
  4. (iv) The Commissioner for Complaints Act (NI) 1969—which established a Commissioner for Complaints to deal with grievances against local councils and public bodies;
  5. (v) The Prevention of Incitement to Hatred Act (NI) 1970—which imposed penalties for incitement to hatred and for the circulation of certain false statements or false reports;
  6. (vi) The Police Act (NI) 1970—which set up a police authority to be representative of all sections of the community as an independent body to maintain an adequate and efficient police force;
  7. (vii) The Housing Executive Act (NI) 1971—which provided for all public authority housebuilding and allocation to be the responsibility of a central housing authority.

Since the establishment of direct rule in 1972, the United Kingdom Government have introduced the following additional measures:

  1. (i) The Prosecution of Offences (NI) Order 1972—which established the office of an independent Director of Public Prosecutions;
  2. (ii) The Electoral Law (NI) Order 1972 —which provided for the use of proportional representation in the local government elections held that year. The Electoral Law (NI) Order 1977 made this provision permanent;
  3. (iii) The Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1972 and the Health and Personal Social Services (NI) Order 1972 —which established five area boards for education and libraries and four area boards for health and personal social services to administer these services;
  4. (iv) The Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. Part III made unlawful any executive actions of central and local government and statutory bodies in Northern Ireland which are discriminatory on religious or political grounds and provides that any discriminatory legislation is void. The Act also set up the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights to advise on the effectiveness of the law in preventing discrimination on grounds of political opinion or religious belief;
  5. (v) The Fair Employment (NI) Act 1976—which made it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person on the grounds of religious belief or political opinion in either the public or private sectors of employment. The Act established an independent body, the Fair Employment Agency for Northern Ireland, whose functions are to promote equality of opportunity, to secure action to ensure it and to achieve remedies for unlawful discrimination;
  6. (vi) The Sex Discrimination (NI) Order 1976—which made it unlawful to discriminate in employment on grounds of sex or marriage or in the provision of goods facilities and services, including educational facilities. The Act established the Equal Opportunities Commission to work 147 towards the elimination of discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity between men and women, and to review the working of the Order and of the Equal Pay Act (NI) 1970.
  7. (vii) The Police (NI) Order 1977—which set up a Police Complaints Board for Northern Ireland similar to the board for England and Wales established under the Police Act 1976;
  8. (viii) The Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (NI) Order 1977—which provides for extension to Northern Ireland of the free or cheap legal advice available under the Legal Aid and Advice Act of 1975.