|
|
|
FEBRUARY 2008
BIRW UPDATE
februARY 2008
irish world award
We are delighted to announce that our Director, Jane Winter, has received an Irish World Award for her work in Northern Ireland. The award was presented on 25th February 2008 and was accepted by Barbara Stow, one of our Trustees, on Jane’s behalf as unfortunately she was abroad at the time. Jane was nominated by Michael O’Hare, whose twelve-year-old sister Majella was shot by a British soldier in 1976. BIRW have been privileged to support Michael and his family in their fight for justice. In her acceptance speech, Jane dedicated the award to Majella’s memory. The Irish World Awards were set up to commemorate their former Editor, Damien Gaffney, who made a considerable contribution to the well-being of the Irish community in Britain before himself dying prematurely at the age of 30, and we are very proud to be among the many distinguished recipients of the awards over the years.
is there anyone who is not being bugged?
Sadiq Khan MP revealed earlier this month that a discussion between himself and a prisoner at Woodhill Prison had been bugged. This sparked widespread concern that others, including lawyers, have had their confidential discussions with prisoners intercepted. BIRW has been following closely a series of cases brought by detainees in Northern Ireland concerning the bugging of their consultations with their lawyers and with prison doctors. On 12th February 2008 the High Court in Northern Ireland granted leave to the detainees to appeal to the House of Lords on the issue of whether it is legal to bug such consultations. BIRW is in the process of seeking leave to make a third party intervention in the case, having already intervened twice in the lower court. We have also taken the issue up with the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.
farewell to maggie beirne
Maggie Beirne is leaving her post as Director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice in Belfast at the end of this month. Her dedication, compassion, and wisdom have added immeasurably to CAJ’s already considerable stature as the foremost human rights group in Northern Ireland. We wish her well in the future and welcome back Mike Ritchie as the new Director, who has worked for CAJ in the past.
SEMINAR ON ACCOUNTABILITY IN TRANSITION
On 16th February 2008 BIRW and the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University Belfast jointly organised a seminar in Belfast on the role of accountability mechanisms in the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. Speakers included
Professor Colin Harvey, Dame Nuala O’Loan, Dr Graham Ellison, Kit Chivers, Chief Inspector of the Criminal Justice Inspectorate, Dave Cox, head of the Historical Enquiries Team, and Jane Winter of BIRW. The seminar was chaired by Keir Starmer QC, former Human Rights Adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Some 50 people attended. In due course, a full record of the proceedings will be available on our website.
Meeting between the Policing Board and NGOs
Our Researcher, Caroline Parkes, attended a meeting between the NGOs and the Human Rights and Professional Standards Committee of the Policing Board. The meeting was an opportunity for the NGOs to discuss key issues with the Board such as the use of less lethal force and the interaction between the PSNI and the Billy Wright Inquiry.
BIRW also submitted a response to the Policing Board consultation on their Communications Strategy.
GOVERNMENT STILL FAILS TO IMPLEMENT EUROPEAN COURT DECISIONS
We have made a further submission (our thirteenth!) to the Committee of Ministers concerning the government’s failure to implement the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights that there should be an effective investigation into the cases of McKerr, Jordan, Kelly & Ors, Shanaghan, McShane, and Finucane. These rulings are now between five and seven years old. We have called on the Committee to continue to monitor the UK’s failure to comply with the rulings and to consider whether there are any sanctions that can be imposed on the UK if it continues to flout the rulings of the Court.
TRAINING
Our Researcher, Caroline Parkes and our Administrator, Elizabeth Forlarin, attended a one-day conference on volunteering; which included useful talks and workshops on subjects such as Volunteers and the Law and Retaining Volunteers. Caroline also attended a three-day course entitled Introduction to Management in the Voluntary Sector at the Directory of Social Change. This course covered the core aspects of the management of both volunteers and paid staff such as supervision, disciplinary action and conflict resolution.
welcome to SAADI
We are pleased to welcome Saadi Omar who is helping our Administrator Elizabeth Folarin to lick the filing into shape.
29th FEBRUARY 2008
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
