IMPACT AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Supported by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Fund, CAJ, PPR, HRC and PILS have succeeded in keeping human rights and equality firmly on the agenda through the ups and downs of the peace process. Their impact has been profound and wide-ranging.
Here are some examples of recent achievements:
Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR)
PPR supported a group of Belfast residents in their Equality Can’t Wait housing campaign. The campaign identified five key sites which, currently vacant, provided the opportunity to address long standing religious inequality in housing and homelessness.
By March 2017 plans for 800 new homes were launched at one of the sites, Sirocco in East Belfast
Public Interest Litigation Support Project (pils)
PPR supported a group of Belfast residents in their Equality Can’t Wait housing campaign. The campaign identified five key sites which, currently vacant, provided the opportunity to address long standing religious inequality in housing and homelessness.
By March 2017 plans for 800 new homes were launched at one of the sites, Sirocco in East Belfast
PILS supported Belfast based organisation, Housing Rights, to take a case against the Bank of Scotland which uncovered the lender’s practice of double billing clients in relation to mortgage arrears.
Following the judgment, the Financial Conduct Authority investigated and found the practice to be improper. New guidelines for banks will now be drafted and up to 750,000 families may receive compensation.
Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)
CAJ highlighted the failures by Government to make progress with inquests which are a legacy of the conflict and secured criticism from Ministers’ Deputies at Strasbourg on the UK’s delay in implementing European Court of Human Rights decisions.
CAJ also shared the lessons of Northern Ireland’s peace process with delegations from Kashmir, Bahrain, Mexico, Bougainvillea (PNG), Israel/Palestine
Human Rights Consortium (HRC)
CAJ highlighted the failures by Government to make progress with inquests which are a legacy of the conflict and secured criticism from Ministers’ Deputies at Strasbourg on the UK’s delay in implementing European Court of Human Rights decisions.
CAJ also shared the lessons of Northern Ireland’s peace process with delegations from Kashmir, Bahrain, Mexico, Bougainvillea (PNG), Israel/Palestine
The Human Rights Consortium successfully crowd-funded £43,000 to help meet the costs of a Brexit-related Judicial Review. The review was dismissed by Belfast’s High Court and appealed in the Supreme Court challenging the failure to comply with the UK’s constitutional and legal obligations in deciding whether and when to trigger Article 50.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Government could not trigger Article 50 without parliamentary legislation. It also highlighted the political and constitutional importance of consultation with devolved nations.
The case was a significant stepping stone in highlighting the importance of safeguarding human rights protections, emanating from membership of the EU, as the Brexit process begins.