Human Rights – Page 29 – Slugger O'Toole

“these matters require to be investigated..”

Pete Baker on January 9, 2009, 6:31 pm

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Further developments in the ongoing legal battle to disclose the reasons behind the quashing of Danny Morrison’s 1991 conviction. Not that there’s been much any actual disclosure.. The Court of Appeal was told the Director of Public Prosecutions is to ask Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde to obtain and provide information based on a report which led to Morrison`s conviction for kidnapping being quashed. Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr confirmed the development, as he said it was not possible …

“common joke is that the ‘Chuckle Brothers’ have been replaced by the ‘Brothers Grimm'”

Pete Baker on January 2, 2009, 2:50 am

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BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport’s review of the year in politics.. With Fianna Fáil beginning to extend its grassroots organisation in south Armagh, the UUP-Conservative experiment will prove an interesting test of the contention that, ten years on from the Good Friday Agreement, the nature of local politics is bound to change. It can change, but it will also depend on what others say and do.. Pete Baker

“They’ll deal with anti-social behaviour..”

Pete Baker on December 30, 2008, 9:36 pm

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The announcement by the PSNI of 5 Neighbourhood Policing Teams for south and east Belfast is being seen by Máirtín as evidence that, “As an institutionally sectarian institution, the PSNI has different policing priorities from those it purports to serve in areas like North Belfast.” [Well it is in a separate District – Ed]. More likely conditions on the ground, amongst other factors, are behind the decision..From the Irish Times report The teams, in the south and east of the …

“beguiled by money” and “morally corrupt”

Pete Baker on December 29, 2008, 4:02 am

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Interestingly the BBC report on the response from MPs to the Church of England Bishops’ criticisms of the UK government over family breakdown, debt and poverty brings to light the role of the Second Church Estates Commissioner, and Labour MP for Middlesborough, Sir Stuart Bell, who called the bishops’ claims “nonsense” – “The Church of England should be a unifying force, since all sectors of the community will be affected by the economic downturn and must come through this together. …

“Imagine saying a thing like that!”

Pete Baker on December 23, 2008, 5:27 pm

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The Irish Times report can’t quite bring itself to say the word, but no such inhibitions at the Guardian which also quotes “a leading Vatican official” calling homosexuality “a deviation, an irregularity, a wound” [an abomination? – Ed]. Indeed. As Malachi O’Doherty points out When the MP Iris Robinson said that she found homosexuality an abomination she was pilloried by those of us who defend gays as equals and friends. Now the pope has said that ‘human ecology’ requires the …

“your beliefs are your choice, so take your place in the queue.”

Pete Baker on December 21, 2008, 10:09 pm

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I’m reluctant to get involved in what appears to be a disagreement between Malachi and Humanism Ireland, or at least between Malachi and some Humanists.. but as someone who is an atheist and a secularist [and a prat? – Ed] and who has described supernatural beliefs as supernatural, but declines the humanist label and certainly wouldn’t join a Humanist Association, I’ll just point to A. C. Grayling’s latest CommentisFree post. I wonder whether, in the dialogue of the deaf that …

“this is not a flash in the pan..”

Pete Baker on December 20, 2008, 6:41 pm

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The front-page of yesterday’s Irish News provided a timely reminder of the failure of some to understand, nevermind accept, the “basis of a civilised society” that the rule of law represents. Others, of course, are all too aware of the importance of due process.. The self-declared Direct Action Concerned Families Against Drugs (CFAD), described in the report as “a new community group”, were boasting of their “success” in north Belfast – Holy Cross Monastry in Ardoyne also appears to have …

“The work of the Commission continues..”

Pete Baker on December 20, 2008, 3:16 am

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As RTÉ reports, following DNA analysis in England it was confirmed today that the human remains discovered last month in County Wicklow are those of 19 year old Danny McIlhone. Abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the Provisional IRA in 1981. Eventually, in 1999, the Provisionals claimed he had been killed in a struggle with the person who was guarding him during questioning about stolen weapons – which would imply that the leadership of that organisation know the identity of …

“his instructions were to enter a nolle prosequi..”

Pete Baker on December 20, 2008, 2:41 am

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The trial of four men accused of Real IRA membership has collapsed at the Republic of Ireland’s Special Criminal Court today. They were arrested along with BBC NI Spotlight journalists in March this year. From the iol report The State’s decision came after the court ruled that the initial detention of the four men when their car was stopped by a Garda Sergeant at Bridgend in Co Donegal was unlawful and that their subsequent arrest was therefore unlawful. Meanwhile three …

“There is no hope of this nonsense ever making it into law, let alone practice.”

Pete Baker on December 15, 2008, 4:30 am

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In his Irish News column this week, Newton Emerson was scathing of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s “statutory advice” to the NI Secretary of State on the content of a NI Bill of Rights “the scope for defining, in Westminster legislation, rights supplementary to those in the ECHR, to reflect the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.” After a decade of deliberation involving hundreds of organisations, thousands of people and millions of pounds, the commission has produced an undeliverable litany …

MEP replacement mechanism “charter for abuse”

Pete Baker on December 12, 2008, 3:37 pm

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According to the BBC report, the Northern Ireland Office is “pressing ahead with a system for replacing MEPs who fail to serve their full term.” The new system would mean that, instead of a by-election, a party would choose a replacement for an MEP who resigned or died while in office. When consulted the Electoral Commission had suggested an alternative system. It wanted a list system similar to other regions whereby voters should have the opportunity to view a list …

“I recognise that there is a diverse range of opinion..”

Pete Baker on December 10, 2008, 11:34 pm

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As noted yesterday, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission today presented its advice to government on a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights. Although, as they implicitly admit, in advising on the possible content of a Bill of Rights, they might have gone beyond their actual remit “to advise on the scope for defining, in Westminster legislation, rights supplementary to those in the ECHR, to reflect the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.” [added emphasis]. Still they have been at it since …

“there will be a diversity of opinion on the contents of a Bill of Rights..”

Pete Baker on December 9, 2008, 10:25 pm

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Yesterday the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Shaun Woodward, MP, welcomed the recently re-appointed NI Human Rights Commission’s annual report on its activities and the spending, in full, of “its agreed resource allocation of £1.59 million for 2007-08” – report in pdf file here. Although the report is already out of date on one of the Commission’s activities this year. Tomorrow, 10th Dec, the NIHRC will be presenting its advice to Government on a NI Bill of Rights – the …

“His duty was to contact the Attorney General immediately..”

Pete Baker on December 4, 2008, 3:10 am

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Over at CommentisFree Geoffrey Robertson QC gives his legal opinion on the House of Commons Speaker’s statement today. From the Guardian post. The Speaker admits that he was told the night before of the impending arrest of an MP. His duty was to contact the Attorney General immediately and to take legal advice from the Clerk of the House, and in the meantime to instruct his Serjeant at Arms to refer all police inquiries to himself. Today he used parliamentary …

“committed to upholding the rule of law even if he disagrees with it in a particular instance..”

Pete Baker on November 28, 2008, 3:35 am

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It’s some way from a final decision but interesting to note that DUP MLA Ian Paisley Jnr may ultimately face a charge of civil contempt for not revealing the identity of a senior prison officer who, in relation to the Wright Inquiry, “told of an alleged policy within the Northern Ireland Prison Service to destroy a large number of files as an emergency due to data protection legislation”. During a preliminary debate over how to characterise the proceedings John Larkin …

“In the event of the United Kingdom deciding to implement such a change..”

Pete Baker on November 24, 2008, 5:21 pm

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Here’s a report from today’s Irish Times which touches on a couple of topics noted previously, the future of the Common Travel Area and who, exactly, sets such policy in the Republic of Ireland? That’s a public conversation which never really got off the ground last time.. From the Irish Times. A spokeswoman said the department [of Justice] was aware of the change being considered by the British. “In the event of the United Kingdom deciding to implement such a …

“community punishment”?

Pete Baker on November 20, 2008, 4:12 am

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Those “threats from the past” were evidenced today at the west Belfast New Barnsley Police Station where a “coffee jar bomb” was found after a security alert. Meanwhile, in Strabane, where police patrols were attacked at the weekend amidst a number of alerts, including one near a Sinn Féin office in Cookstown – and other sectarian attacks elsewhere – the Sinn Féin chairman of Strabane District Council, Cllr Jarlath McNulty, has criticised police for being “heavy-handed and cavalier”. He also …

Murphy’s trial on tax evasion sent back to Dundalk District Court

Pete Baker on November 19, 2008, 7:41 pm

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Having denied agreeing to his brothers’ forfeiture of criminal assets, Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy [Who is, according to some, “not a criminal” – Ed] sent his legal representatives to the Republic of Ireland’s High Court today to hear the ruling on the High Court judicial review proceedings after Mr Murphy alleged breaches of his rights by the Special Criminal Court in relation to charges of tax evasion. The ruling is reported here. Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O Neill found state lawyers breached …

de Juana Chaos arrested “by agreement”

Pete Baker on November 17, 2008, 4:41 pm

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As noted previously, 53-year-old Eta member José Ignacio (Iñaki) de Juana Chaos appeared at Laganside Court this morning [accompanied by Belfast lawyer Kevin Winters] in response to the Spanish court’s issuing of a European Arrest Warrant. Meanwhile French police have arrested the suspected military chief of ETA. From the BBC report. More In the iol report. [Flag-waving] Basque supporters gathered outside the Laganside Courthouse on Monday when he arrived with his lawyer. The 53-year-old is believed to have been living …

“I am afraid I cannot explain the matter any further..”

Pete Baker on November 16, 2008, 5:04 am

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The Public Prosecution Service’s decision not to oppose the Criminal Cases Review Commission recommendation may have resulted in the quashing of Danny Morrison’s 1991 conviction, but the legal battle about revealing the reason why continue. From the Irish News ..yesterday Gerry Simpson QC, for the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) objected to the CCRC report being made public. Mr Simpson said the PPS objections related to a “number of matters” which he could not explain in open court. “I am afraid …