§ Lembit ÖpikTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will extend the term of one or more of the Commissioners due to leave the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on 29 February; and if he will make a statement. [159855]
§ Mr. SpellarUnder guidance from the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, there is an expectation that appointments to upper tier bodies such as the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission should be for no more than two terms.
§ Lembit ÖpikTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons his Department has decided to continue to pay those members of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission who withdrew from the business of the Commission in September 2003; and if he will make a statement. [159856]
§ Mr. SpellarBoth Commissioners who withdrew from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in September 2003, while not actively engaged in Commission business, have continued to receive papers. It is on this basis and in the hope that the two Commissioners would re-engage with their fellow Commissioners that the Northern Ireland Office has continued to pay them.
The term of appointment of one of the two Commissioners who withdrew from the Commission's activities expired on 29 February.
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§ Lembit ÖpikTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to make a definitive response to the Review of Powers which was submitted to him by the Northern Ireland Rights Commission on 28 February 2001; for what reasons he has not yet made such a response; and if he will make a statement. [159857]
§ Mr. SpellarThe deadline for responses to the Government's consultation document on the Commission's Review of Powers submission was 16 August 2002, but suspension of the Assembly then intervened.
The Joint Declaration committed the Government to bring the consultation on our draft response to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's Review of Powers to an end following restoration of devolution. This was subsequently brought forward to October 2003. However the election in November and an outstanding response from a key consultee made this impossible.
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is a key institution of the Belfast Agreement. The Government want It to succeed and are committed to helping it to do so. We are considering our response to the Review of Powers as part of a package of measures to ensure that we have a strong, independent and self-confident Commission, which draws support from all parts of the community. I intend to make an announcement in the near future.