A Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission delivered its final report to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 10 December 2008. In the last issue of the European Human Rights Law Review in 2009, Colin Harvey and David Russell offer their thoughts on the report and the consultation process that produced it (Harvey & Russell ‘A new beginning for human rights protection in Northern Ireland?’ [2009] EHRLRev 748). The (relatively brief) article is not a detailed critique (nor could it be – as one of the authors is a co-author of the report) nor a mere summary. Rather, it sits somewhere in between as a sort of Cliff’s Notes for those who need to catch up on the debate (making this blog post a Cliff’s Notes of Cliff’s Notes, á la John Crace’s Digested Read Digested).

France’s Héran report on racial and ethnic statistics

France’s Committee on the Assessment of Diversity and Discriminations (Comedd) issued its report on ethnic statistics last week, stating that legislative reform is not needed in order to permit the State to better assess and combat discriminations on racial and other grounds in various contexts. Le Monde noted that “the defenders of the single and indivisible Republic had rejected the idea that distinctions could be made between French citizens on the basis of their ethnic origins. They were opposed by those who believed that discrimination could only be combated through such distinctions.” The committee argued that statistical methods currently permitted under French law – such as the assessment persons’ origins on the basis of their nationality, parents’ nationality or country of birth – was sufficient in order to measure diversity and discrimination, as an alternative to the controversial use of ethnic and racial criteria in state censes.

Polygamy in the High Court

The Sunday Times reported yesterday that the High Court will soon rule on the validity of an Irish citizen’s marriage under s. 29 of the Family Law Act, 1995. The man is Lebanese. He married two women in Lebanon, where polygamous marriage is permitted. He entered Ireland with his second wife and claimed asylum. His first wife arrived in Ireland much later.  The man has children with both and  apparently lives with both in Ireland.  Seven years ago the Department of Justice had refused to grant a visa to the man’s first wife. However, after the man challenged the refusal in the High Court, the Department agreed to quash its initial refusal. As part of this settlement, the man is required to seek a s. 29 ruling. The Times reports that ‘[t]he state and the wives are all represented in the case. The residency rights of both spouses will depend on the decision. A number of similar cases are awaiting the outcome.’ The case looks to be (or is very similar to) that of Hussein Ali Hamoud. The Irish Independent reported on his case in 2003 here.  There is been remarkably little media discussion of the case today. Marian Finucane discussed the issue, to some extent, on RTE Radio 1 yesterday. The podcast is here (from minute 21). The Examiner also published a short opinion piece.

Recent Issues in Immigration policy: Criminalisation, Detention and Socio-Economic Rights

The Immigrant Council of Ireland recently briefed delegates from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) during their recent ‘periodic visit’ toDublin. You can find the Irish reports and responses from 2002 and 2006 here. The ICI says in its latest newsletter that :

At the meeting, the ICI highlighted existing legislative provisions for immigration-related detention in a wide range of circumstances, as well as the proposed provisions in the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008. The ICI also highlighted the ongoing difficulties in monitoring the welfare and conditions of migrants in detention due to the lack of official data recorded by the Irish Prison Service or other agencies…In addition, the ICI raised concerns about victims of trafficking being kept in detention and charged with immigration related offences, concerns which were also expressly highlighted by the US Trafficking In Persons Report (2009)

Confusion over the IBC/05 Scheme

From the Immigrant Council of Ireland blog comes news about applications for renewal of residence permits under the IBC/05 scheme. We blogged about the position of Irish-born children of migrants to Ireland here and you can find out more about the experiences of families under the scheme in this report.

The ICI will closely monitor any fall-out from the confusion around the process for renewing residence permits for the parents of Irish citizen children.  About 17,000 people have this type of residence permit (IBC), which are due for renewal this year.

In December, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) advertised the process for renewing IBC residence permits, stating that people could do so by presenting at the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) or their local immigration office, with the relevant documents, fee etc. But people who followed the directions set out in the advertisements have been told by the GNIB that it is unable to renew their permits without further direction from INIS. INIS has indicated a second announcement about the renewal process will be made on www.inis.gov.ieand in national newspapers soon. In the meantime, many affected migrants have not been able to renew their residence permits.

This apparent breakdown in coordination between two parts of the Department of Justice has very serious ramifications, not least the fact that when a person’s current permit expires and is not renewed, they become undocumented.  This could have implications for a person’s employment security and possibly on citizenship applications, as well creating enormous stress and confusion.  The ICI has been in contact with both INIS and the GNIB in an attempt to have the situation addressed.

Department of Foreign Affairs’ Conflict Resolution Unit

In 2007  the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs opened its Conflict Resolution Unit. The rationale behind the move was based upon

Given Ireland’s proud tradition of UN peacekeeping, our commitment to overseas development aid, our experience of the peace process in Northern Ireland and our commitment to human rights and the international rule of law, we are well placed to offer assistance to other countries on their path to peace and stability. The CRU is based within the Department’s Political Division, and cooperates closely with Development Cooperation and  Anglo-Irish Division.

At the time of  the unit’s creation, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern T.D. was reported as stating that Ireland’s experience in Northern Ireland, its long history of peacekeeping meant that we were particularly suited to take on this role. Though editorials at the time argued that as Ireland is a threat to nobody and unlikely to be suspected of putting its own interests ahead of international peace and securitythis seems to show a rather naïve appreciation of what a western country and a member of the EU can potentially be percieved as internationally.

The creation of this unit has resulted in a number of initiatives in co-operation with the United Nations and NGOs in areas such as Peacebuilding, Peacemaking and Human Rights in Conflict. One of the most interesting areas of focus is in Women Peace and Security . This is the response of the Irish Government to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security which states that:

7. Urges Member States to increase their voluntary financial, technical and logistical support for gender-sensitive training efforts, including those undertaken by relevant funds and programmes, inter alia, the United Nations Fund for Women and United Nations Children’s Fund, and by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other relevant bodies;

8. Calls on all actors involved, when negotiating and implementing peace agreements, to adopt a gender perspective, including, inter alia: (a) The special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction; (b) Measures that support local women’s peace initiatives and indigenous processes for conflict resolution, and that involve women in all of the implementation mechanisms of the peace agreements; (c) Measures that ensure the protection of and respect for human rights of women and girls, particularly as they relate to the constitution, the electoral system, the police and the judiciary;

Ireland is involved in a scheme which has been put together with Timor Leste, Liberia and Northern Ireland in a cross-learning initiative to aid developing Ireland’s National Action Plan and to facilitate the sharing of experiences of women in conflict situations. This has involved mini-conferences where models, experiences and recommendations were shared among the countries with more planned for 2010. Dame Nuala O’Loan has recently been appointed as Ireland’s Special Envoy on Women Peace and Security and she will now lead this initiative. This is an innovative  move within both this Unit and the Department as a whole which hopefully will result in positive futures for all women who are involved and caught up in conflict.

Call for Ban on FGM in Ireland

According to a report in the Irish Times, a number of participants at an event held by the National Steering Committee on Female Genital Mutilation to mark International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM called for a stepping up of the campaign for a new law banning the practice of FGM in Ireland.

During the event, serious concerns were expressed about whether the current legal framework in Ireland served as an effective tool for addressing the practise of FGM. While Government advice has indicated that female genital mutilation constitutes an offence under assault laws, speakers at the seminar said distinct legislation was needed.

According to the Irish Times report, a spokesman for Minister for Health Mary Harney said: “The question of introducing specific legislation to ban female genital mutilation remains under review. However, we cannot be specific on a timeframe for this review at this stage.”

The Irish Steering Committee came together in early 2008 to develop the Plan of Action to address Female Genital Mutilation, which was finalised in late 2008. The report is a valuable source of information on the practise of FGM in Ireland and elsewhere. The document highlights that ‘a proactive and coordinated response is required to prevent the establishment of the practice [of FGM] in Ireland and to provide care for women and girls living in Ireland who have already undergone FGM in their country of origin’. It identifies a number of strategies ‘as being essential to addressing FGM in Ireland and in other countries through Irish development policies’, focusing on actions under 5 strategy headings: legal, asylum, health, community and development aid. From a legal perspective, the report quotes earlier research carried out by the Women’s Health Council which, amongst other things, highlighted the shortcomings and the inappropriateness of existing legislation in terms of prosecuting FGM.

Recent Stories in Children’s Rights

We are still awaiting a draft version of the proposed children’s rights amendment to the Constitution. Aoife blogged about the proposal here. The government serves children very badly, as the Children’s Rights Alliance reminded us last week.  In the fortnight since the announcement was made that the draft constitutional amendment was on the brink of publication  a number of important stories touching on children’s rights in Ireland have broken.

• Fine Gael provides a very good summary of the outstanding issues in the child protection system here .
• The Examiner reports on the serious consequences for children with learning difficulties of the budget-driven withdrawal of support teachers here.
• Last year was the worst year since 2006 for migrant children disappearing from State care. Fine Gael’s response is here and you can read the Irish Times report on the same issue here . The HSE on Monday said that  ‘it has been unsubstantiated that any of the children who go missing from HSE care have been trafficked’. However, the Children’s Rights Alliance provides this statement in which it convincingly argues that  ’it is a matter of public record that children, who have disappeared from HSE care, have subsequently been ‘found’ in situations where they were being exploited by traffickers. ’

Call for Papers: IJS Symposium at UCC, April 2010

The Irish Jurisprudence Society in conjunction with the Law Faculty at UCC will host a Symposium on Jurisprudence and Legal Theory at University College Cork on 17th April 2010. Papers may be presented on any area of jurisprudence or legal theory; there will be up to 30 minutes for presentation of each paper and ample time for discussion.
It is intended that papers will be pre-circulated to those attending one week in advance of the Symposium.

Those interested in presenting a paper should please send a provisional title and a short (300-400 word) abstract either to Dr Maria Cahill, UCC(maria.cahill@ucc.ie) or to the IJS email address (irishjurisprudencesociety@gmail.com) by 12th March 2010. Any enquiries can also be addressed to same.

For details of the Irish Jurisprudence Society’s  past events see this site.

Guest Contribution: Smith on Court Referral to the Magdalen Laundries

We were very pleased yesterday evening to receive the following from James Smith, one of the more prominent members of Justice for Magdalenes. It is the text of a letter also published in yesterday’s Irish Times and available here. We have written previously about the Magdalen Laundries here, here and here. James himself is an Associate Professor at Boston College. James’ professional profile is here. James is also the author of Ireland’s Magdalen Laundries and the Nation’s Architecture of Confinement (2007, University of Notre Dame Press). Today’s Irish Times reports that Justice for Magdalenes described the meeting with the Department of Education, which is referred to in the post below, as “helpful”.

Justice for Magdalenes (JFM), the survivor advocacy group, is due to meet officials in the Department of Education today. The meeting follows statements in recent days by the Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe, revising his assertion last September that “the State did not refer individuals nor was it complicit in referring individuals to the laundries”.

In a letter addressed to me (dated January 27th), Mr O’Keeffe acknowledges that the Department of Justice has now “confirmed that some women were referred by the courts to the Magdalen laundries”. The Minister repeated this new understanding in his response to two Parliamentary Questions in the Dáil on Thursday last. Justice for Magdalenes welcomes the Minister’s acknowledgment of State complicity and suggests that it provides the basis for moving towards the establishment of a distinct redress scheme for Magdalene survivors.

We assert, however, that evidence of State complicity also involves the Department of Education directly. Mr O’Keeffe continues to avoid this issue, in his letter and his comments in the Dáil. Rather, he maintains the distinction between “children who were taken into the laundries privately or who entered the laundries as adults” as “quite different to persons who were resident in State-run institutions.” Justice for Magdalenes agrees with Mr O’Keeffe that section 1 (3) of the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 provides redress to survivors who as children “were transferred to a Magdalen laundry from a State regulated institution.”