HL Deb 05 May 2004 vol 660 cc54-5WS
Baroness Amos

My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Ministerial Statement:

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is a key institution of the Belfast agreement. We in government want it to succeed and are committed to helping it to do so. It is in all our interests that we have a strong, independent and self-confident commission, which draws support from all parts of the community. It is from this position that we are approaching the coming year.

We have listened to the criticism of the Human Rights Commission. We have also listened to the other side, those who see the commission doing the best job it can in difficult circumstances. We have thought carefully about the issues and how to address them.

We will shortly begin a process to recruit a new chief commissioner and a full set of commissioners to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. We expect the process to take some months, with the new chief commissioner and commissioners being announced in the autumn. We propose to invite a number of those commissioners to take office soon after appointment. We will do this after discussion with the chief commissioner-designate, who will also be invited to join early. He or she will not become chief commissioner until the end of Brice Dickson's appointment. The remainder of the incoming commissioners will take office on 28 February 2005, at which point those who have served two terms will leave.

We will begin this process shortly. In the mean time we will be working on the details of the process. We will use search consultants. An independent assessor will be involved throughout and there will be a human rights expert, alongside the independent assessor, on the panel which interviews candidates.

This does not mean that the current commission is winding down—far from it. They have a great deal still to achieve.

From the outset, each commissioner has played an important role in promoting a culture of rights in Northern Ireland. They will leave behind an impressive body of work which I believe history will judge kindly. They have served in the best interests of all the people of Northern Ireland, at times under great pressure. For this, they deserve our gratitude and our support in their ongoing work.

For our part, the Government remain committed to establishing a broadly based forum on the Bill of Rights. We will engage the political parties in a renewed effort to build consensus to this end.

We understand there is much detail behind these proposals which people will want to discuss. I will be inviting the parties to put forward their views. I am clear that these discussions must respect the terms of the Belfast agreement and the independence of the commission. In this context, we will also conclude the review of the commission's powers.

I would urge all parts of the community to work with us over the coming year. There are significant opportunities ahead to build on the great progress we have seen since in the field of rights since the Belfast agreement was reached in 1998. It is imperative that all parts of the community take those opportunities and everyone receives the same benefits.