§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 14 September (WA 178), which bodies nominated how many individuals for membership of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. [HL4285]
§ Baroness AmosMy right honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland (Mr Spellar) wrote to the leaders of all Northern Ireland political parties; the Northern Ireland spokesman for the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties; the chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee; and the Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) on 14 June 2004 inviting them to nominate people to be considered for appointment to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Committee. His letter pointed out that any nominee would be required to undergo the same application process as all other candidates.
The advertisement also invited bodies to nominate individuals.
The Government did not receive any nominations.
§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 14 September (WA 178), whether they will provide a summary curriculum vitae of Mr John Keanie, pointing out his human rights experience and expertise. [HL4286]
§ Baroness AmosJohn Keanie is an OCPA-accredited independent assessor whose job is to ensure that the entire appointments process adheres to the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments' (OCPA) code of practice. His expertise is in public appointments.
OCPA guidance states that "independent scrutiny underwrites the integrity of the whole appointments process". Furthermore, it defines the role of the independent assessor as "an expert in the appointments process and need not have a specialist knowledge in the subject matter dealt with by the body on which there is a vacancy".
An independent human rights expert, Mr Chris Sidoti (Director of International Service of Human Rights, a NGO based in Geneva) will be on the interview panel for both the chief commissioner and commissioner posts.