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AUGUST 2002
judge peter cory
On 8th August Paul Mageean of CAJ and I met
Judge Cory to discuss his staffing arrangements.
The judge was at pains to impress upon us his total independence of both
the British and Irish governments. He
has decided to have no staff seconded to him from the Northern Ireland Office,
but he does have three staff, one of them very senior, seconded from the Lord
Chancellor’s Department, which is a matter for concern for some of the
families whose cases the judge will be examining.
However, the judge has agreed that any submission that is made to him
confidentially will be seen only by him and his two Canadian assistants.
He has also put a number of security measures in place.
On this basis, and with the consent of the families concerned, BIRW has
made detailed and substantial submissions to Judge Cory regarding Patrick
Finucane, Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill, and Billy Wright.
We understand that the judge hopes to complete his work within eighteen
months and that he will announce his decisions in all six cases at the end of
that time.
REPEAL OF S. 76
OF THE TERRORISM ACT
The government’s decision to repeal s. 76 of the
Terrorism Act is another vital step towards abolishing the emergency laws in
Northern Ireland. Section 76 set a
higher standard of admissibility for confession evidence in the no-jury Diplock
courts than that which applies in the ordinary criminal courts.
As of last month, the standard will be the same in all courts.
We look forward to the day when the Diplock courts are a thing of the
past.
powers of the
Northern Ireland human rights commission
We have made an uninvited submission to the government
concerning its response to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s
recommendations for expanding its powers. British
Irish rights watch has consistently
advocated the adoption of a Bill of Rights and the establishment of a human
rights commission, and we were delighted when these issues were addressed in the
Good Friday Agreement and won overwhelming support in the referendum that
approved the peace package. However,
since 1998 we have watched with some dismay the way in which those two human
rights pledges have been delivered in practice.
In particular, the government has failed to give the Commission the
resources or the powers that it needs to carry out its mandate, failed to
consult the Commission about matters that clearly lie within its remit, and it
has failed to give the Commission its wholehearted public support. Although the government’s response to the Commission’s
recommendations concerning their powers is for the most part couched in positive
language, we note that the majority of the Commission’s recommendations are
either not accepted, deemed to be unnecessary, or accepted only partially or
subject to consultation.
safety in
maghaberry
We have received more complaints from prisoners at Maghaberry concerning death threats and assaults in the prison. We continue to monitor the situation closely.
FAREWELL
TO AYESHA AND DANIELLE, WELCOME JAMES
This month has been largely taken up with the second part of a major archiving project, which has been funded by an anonymous benefactor to whom we are extremely grateful. Very many thanks to Ayesha Mohsin for her work on this project, and welcome to James Hall, who has taken over where she has left off to resume her studies. Danielle Koster has also left us this month to return to Columbia University in New York. Many thanks to her also for her hard wok on our submissions to Judge Cory. We wish Ayesha and Danielle all the best in their future lives as human rights lawyers.
Jane Winter,
Director,
29th August 2002.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
