Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission: Bill of Rights

HL Deb 08 September 2003 vol 652 cc10-1WA

Lord Laird

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they consider that the action of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in preparing a bill of rights for Northern Ireland, when the commission was not tasked to do so, constituted a proper use of public money. [HL4065]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

Under the terms of the Belfast Agreement the Human Rights Commission was tasked with advising on the "scope for defining, in Westminster legislation, rights supplementary to those in the European Convention on Human Rights, to reflect the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland, drawing as appropriate on international instruments and experience." The publication of the consultation documentMaking a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland by the commission has provided a focus for the important and necessary debate that will help determine what is in that advice.