The UK government, led by Rishi Sunak, will appeal against a court ruling disapplying provisions of the Illegal Migration Act in Northern Ireland. The Act includes powers to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was deemed to undermine human rights protections guaranteed in the region. The High Court in Belfast found aspects of the Act incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Despite the ruling, the government plans to continue with its operation to send illegal migrants to Rwanda in July. The Windsor Framework post-Brexit ensures no reduction in rights provisions outlined in the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998.
The UK government plans to start deportation flights to Rwanda between July 1 and July 15, coinciding with Rwanda's elections. The FDA union is challenging the Safety of Rwanda Act, which allows the ignoring of human rights laws for deportations, creating a conflict for civil servants. Asylum seekers detained under the deportation policy are given a booklet about relocation to Rwanda, despite concerns over safety and legality. Legal actions by charities like Asylum Aid aim to address the potential unlawfulness of the policy. The High Court will hear the FDA union's challenge in early June.
The UK Home Office has initiated operations to detain and deport migrants to Rwanda under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's immigration policy. Armed immigration officers have been shown handcuffing individuals at their homes for deportation. The controversial Safety of Rwanda Bill allows for deportation of asylum seekers who arrive illegally, despite previous legality concerns. Despite losing contact with over half the individuals to be deported, the Home Office aims to swiftly carry out deportations, which have faced opposition from unions and human rights charities.
The Rwanda asylum plan (officially the UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, also known as the Rwanda asylum scheme, the Rwanda plan and the Rwanda deal) is an immigration policy first proposed by the British government in April 2022 whereby people whom the United Kingdom identified as illegal immigrants or asylum seekers would have been relocated to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement. Those who were successful in claiming asylum would have remained in Rwanda, and they would not have been permitted to return to the United Kingdom.The first flight for this plan received legal clearance from the High Court of Justice and was scheduled for 14 June 2022. A last-minute interim measure by the European Court of Human Rights led to the plan being halted until the conclusion of the legal action in the UK. At the end of 2022, the High Court further ruled that though the plan was lawful, the individual cases of eight asylum seekers due to be deported that year had to be reconsidered. The Court of Appeal ruled on 29 June 2023 that the plan was unlawful; with an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom leading to a concurrence with the lower court on 15 November 2023.
The refugee charity estimates over 115,000 asylum seekers will be stuck in limbo due to the UK government's Rwanda plan, leading to chaos and immense cost. Only a small fraction are expected to be deported, with significant taxpayer expenses incurred. The government's Nationality and Borders Act 2022, Illegal Migration Act 2023, and Safety of Rwanda Bill are projected to cost taxpayers up to 6.2 billion annually. The Home Office aims to deport illegal migrants, with plans for indefinite flights to Rwanda despite legal challenges on human rights grounds.
The European Court of Human Rights has stated that countries have a "clear legal obligation" to adhere to its emergency injunction measures, known as Rule 39. This comes as the UK government considers ignoring these measures in its plans to send migrants to Rwanda. The court president, Siofra O'Leary, emphasized that states have violated their obligations in the past when they have failed to comply with Rule 39 indications. The UK has historically complied with these measures, but the government's Rwanda legislation may breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill is a proposed Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It seeks to deter unlawful migration, particularly by unsafe and illegal routes, by allowing some migrants to be sent to the Republic of Rwanda. It was introduced in the House of Commons on 7 December 2023, by James Cleverly, Home Secretary, passed its second reading on 12 December and passed its third reading on 17 January 2024.It is was introduced to the House of Lords by Lord Sharpe of Epsom, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, passed Committee Stage on 19 February 2024, and passed Report Stage on 6 March 2024. The Bill is currently awaiting its Third Reading which it will receive on 12 March 2024. After its third reading in the Lords, the Bill will return to the Commons for consideration of amendments.
Ireland's Prime Minister has emphasized the UK's obligation to abide by an agreement dating back to 2020 regarding the return of asylum seekers, amidst a dispute over Ireland's new plan to send back asylum seekers crossing from Northern Ireland. The UK government has declined to take back these asylum seekers until the EU allows them to return to France. The Irish government aims to provide legal clarity on the existing agreement to designate the UK as a safe country for refugee return. Irish officials stress the importance of mutual agreement adherence between both countries.
Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, plans to change the law and pursue a treaty with Rwanda in response to the Supreme Court's ruling on illegal migration. Critics argue that Sunak's previous approach was too narrow-minded and his new plan may not be effective. Despite skepticism, Sunak is determined to address the issue as many people support his actions. However, it remains uncertain how smoothly this plan can be executed due to the complexity of legislation, courts, and conventions that ministers must navigate.
The Belfast High Court has ruled that the conditional amnesty for suspects and immunity from prosecutions for Troubles-related offences in the UK government's Legacy Act are in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ruling came after a legal challenge by relatives of victims and a shooting survivor. The Act, which received royal assent in September, aims to end future civil litigation and inquests related to the Troubles era in Northern Ireland.
RISHI Sunak needs to make "proper changes" to the European Convention on Human Rights in order to stop the boats, a senior centrist Tory has declared. One Nation MP Matt Warman made the demand on The Sun's new politics show Never Mind the Ballots - heaping even more pressure on the PM to harden his asylum and deportation policy. It comes as the number of migrants who have arrived in the UK on small boats so far in 2023 has hit the highest level ever recorded for the first three months of a year. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's flagship Bill to deport refugees to Rwanda is currently stuck in the House of Lords after peers made further attempts to water it down. Speaking to The Sun's political editor Harry Cole about whether the PM needs to take the fight to the European Court of Human Rights , Mr Warman said: I want to see the ECHR reformed properly, not just nibbling around the edges.
Asylum seekers have said their lives are "not safe" having been told they are being sent to Rwanda as part of the government's plans. A Hull charity said 16 of them had been detained and sent to a detention centre without notice or formal warning. The Home Office said it had begun detaining "illegal migrants" in preparation for the first flight to Rwanda in nine to 11 weeks. Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh said the move would keep migrants safe. One of the 16 asylum seekers, who had been living in Hull, told the BBC he was being held at a detention centre near Heathrow, along with a friend, and both were facing deportation to the Central African country.
The UK government considered using Iraq to process asylum seekers, like the Rwanda scheme, based on leaked correspondence between high-ranking officials. Negotiations with Iraq were described as making good recent progress, although Iraq advises against all travel to parts of the country. Additionally, the UK is also working on returns agreements with Eritrea and Ethiopia for migrants arriving by small boats. The Rwanda asylum processing plan, initially met with challenges and legal hurdles, is being salvaged by new treaties and legislation under Rishi Sunak's direction.
The Illegal Migration Act 2023 (c. 37) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Suella Braverman, in March 2023. The main focus of the bill is to reduce or end "small boat crossings", across the English Channel, by ways described as "pushing against international law". The legislation proposes to detain and remove those from the UK who arrive in that country by illegal means, as well as blocking them from returning. Its announcement follows a sharp increase in the number of migrants crossing the English Channel by boat, which increased from 300 annually in 2018 to 45,000 in 2022, and 3,150 as of March 2023. This issue was one of five key priorities outlined in January 2023 by prime minister Rishi Sunak, who tweeted: "If you come here illegally, you can't claim asylum. You can't benefit from our modern slavery protections. You can't make spurious human rights claims and you can't stay."The bill had its third reading in the House of Commons on 26 April 2023. MPs voted 289–230 in favour of the bill, which was then sent to the House of Lords for consideration.On 5 July 2023, the government confirmed that they would go ahead with the bill, despite defeat in the House of Lords.On 11 July 2023, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick confirmed the government did not support what he described as “little short of wrecking amendments” to the bill.On 20 July 2023, the bill received royal assent.
The Windsor Framework is a post-Brexit legal agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom which adjusts the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Framework was announced on 27 February 2023, formally adopted by both parties on 24 March 2023 and came into effect on 1 October 2023. The UK Government announced plans for revisions to the Framework's operation in January 2024.The Framework was negotiated to address political concerns in the UK and especially among Ulster Unionists about the Northern Ireland Protocol. Under the terms of the Protocol, Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK, remains in the EU single market for goods. This puts in place a de facto Irish Sea trade border for goods moving to Northern Ireland from Great Britain. The Framework changes aspects of the Protocol's operation, particularly to ease custom checks on goods arriving from Great Britain. It gives UK government more control over VAT rates applying in Northern Ireland and states that medicines placed on the market in Northern Ireland will be regulated by the UK and not the EU. It gives the Northern Ireland administration and UK government a mechanism to object to, pause, and potentially disapply updated and amended EU laws, mainly concerning goods.Following the Framework's announcement, Ulster Unionist politicians, while stating that the Framework was an improvement on the original implementation of the Protocol, remained concerned that the nature of Northern Ireland's participation in the UK Internal Market was diminished by the Protocol's very existence. These concerns were a key factor in the refusal of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), from February 2022, to allow the operation of the Northern Ireland Assembly, thus suspending devolved government in Northern Ireland. In January 2024 the UK Government and DUP reached agreement on proposed revisions to the Framework's operation, the end of the DUP boycott, and thereby the restoration of devolved government.
The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, commonly abbreviated to the Northern Ireland Protocol, is a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement that sets out Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit relationship with both the EU and Great Britain. The Withdrawal Agreement, including the Protocol, came into effect on 1 January 2021. Citing the island of Ireland's "unique circumstances," the Protocol governs unique arrangements on the island between the United Kingdom and the European Union; it regulates some aspects of trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.The Protocol's arrangements, under which Northern Ireland but not the rest of the UK remains in the EU single market for goods, allow the maintenance of the open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The establishment of the open border was a key aspect of the Northern Ireland Peace Process and Good Friday Agreement which ended the Northern Ireland Conflict. The Protocol instead creates a de facto customs border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.Principally to address concerns of Ulster Unionists about the Protocol, in 2022-23 the EU and UK agreed revised arrangements for its operation – the Windsor Framework – which took effect on 24 March 2023. The Democratic Unionist Party declined to accept the Framework as meeting their concerns until further adjustments to its operation were agreed on 31 January 2024 and the formation of a new Northern Ireland Executive began.
This video can not be played The Rwandan government is unable to guarantee how many migrants it will be able to take from the UK if flights to the country begin, a government spokesperson has said. Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Yolande Makolo said "we are ready", but would not give an assurance Rwanda would be able to take the 40,000 people the UK would like to send, merely saying it would be "thousands". Read more on this story. Watch: Rwanda can't guarantee number of UK migrants. Video, 00:00:51 Watch: Rwanda can't guarantee number of UK migrants Up Next.
UK Home Secretary James Cleverly has admitted that the number of people who could be deported to Rwanda under the government's scheme could be quite low. Cleverly stated that the number of deportations would be entirely dependent on other work being done in parallel, such as successful returns agreements and changing circumstances in other countries. The admission came during a session of the Home Affairs Select Committee, where it was revealed that 33,085 people had arrived in the UK since the Illegal Migration Act was passed last year.
A major operation has started in Dublin to move hundreds of asylum seekers who were sleeping in a tent encampment near the city's International Protection Office amid struggles to find accommodation. The Irish Government expressed concerns about an influx of asylum seekers via Northern Ireland. Council workers, supported by law enforcement and health personnel, cleaned up and relocated the individuals to alternative sites with essential facilities. Diplomatic tensions with the UK rose as Ireland sought to return asylum seekers to the UK, but UK's PM rejected the idea, leading to a legal dispute between the two countries.
Labour leader Keir Starmer stated that there will be no deportation flights to Rwanda under a Labour government as they plan to scrap the scheme aimed at sending asylum seekers from safe countries to Rwanda. Starmer also announced plans to tackle small boat crossings with measures including a new Border Security Command and new counter-terrorism powers. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak criticized Starmer's plan, calling it 'rank hypocrisy' and claiming that the proposed actions were already being implemented by the current government.
Wednesday marks a significant moment for the UK government's Legacy Act - with an end to historical inquests and the transferring of Troubles-era cases to a new body. The controversial act has been opposed by victims' groups and all the main political parties in Northern Ireland - while the UK government maintains the law is human rights compliant and draws a line under the past. The act was passed by Parliament in September despite opposition from Labour, all Northern Ireland parties, several victims' groups and the Irish government. It created a new legacy body known as the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to take over all Troubles-era cases from May 1, including those on the desk of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). The act shuts down all historical inquests from 1 May and has already prevented new civil cases from being lodged in court.
Steven Miles government claims to have legal advice from Crown Law and solicitor general that amendments will not violate Human Rights Act or international law The community sector has criticised new youth justice legislation introduced by the Queensland Labor government as part of an irresponsible political manoeuvre and a desperate grab for power in a bipartisan race to the bottom on criminal justice. Meanwhile the opposition accused the government of lying about legislation Labor says would remove the principle of detention as a last resort of a young person, an obligation under the convention on the rights of the child. Sign up for Guardian Australias free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup This is just our wannabe macho men having a fight over who can be the toughest, when actually what we need are some cool heads, who are willing to explain to the community the facts about what is happening in our society, Queensland Council of Social Service (Qcoss) CEO Aimee McVeigh said. And the things that will actually go towards addressing violence in our communities. The governments reforms replace the old principle with a new clause: A child should be detained in custody .
Rishi Sunak's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 25 October 2022 when he accepted an invitation from King Charles III to form a government, succeeding Liz Truss. He is the first British Indian to hold the office of prime minister. As prime minister, Sunak is also serving as First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union.Sunak was defeated by Truss in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election and spent the duration of Truss's premiership as a backbencher. Following Truss's resignation amid a government crisis, Sunak was elected unopposed to succeed her after being the sole nominee in the October 2022 party leadership election. He was elected Leader of the Conservative Party on 24 October and was appointed prime minister the following day.As prime minister, Sunak has authorised foreign aid and weapons shipments to Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion of the country. He and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt have continued the levelling up policy introduced during the premiership of Boris Johnson. In January 2023, Sunak outlined five key priorities, one of which is the Illegal Migration Bill. In February 2023, Sunak negotiated a proposed agreement with the European Union (EU) on Northern Ireland's trading arrangements which was published as the "Windsor Framework", which is designed to address the issue of the movement of goods between the European single market and the UK in the current Northern Ireland Protocol; the agreement has failed to receive the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Sunak attended and spoke at the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in May 2023. In his speech at the October 2023 Conservative Party Conference, Sunak announced the cancellation of the western branch and the remainder of the eastern branch of the planned High Speed 2 (HS2) railway line. Sunak has reshuffled his Cabinet twice, the latter of which resulted in the return of former prime minister David Cameron to government.A number of scandals involving Conservative MPs have occurred during Sunak's premiership. Gavin Williamson and Dominic Raab resigned from their roles in Cabinet in November 2022 and April 2023 respectively after the former was accused of bullying MPs and the latter was found to have bullied civil servants. Chairman of the Conservative Party Nadhim Zahawi was dismissed by Sunak in January 2023 after he was found to have breached the Ministerial Code by failing to disclose he was being investigated by HM Revenue and Customs while he served as chancellor under Johnson. Home Secretary Suella Braverman was widely panned in November 2023, causing huge controversy for comments made about pro-Palestinian protesters and the homeless, which eventually led to her being dismissed by Sunak. Under Sunak, the Conservative Party lost over 1,000 councillors during the 2023 local elections, while the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats made significant gains, which were the poorest local election results for the party since the 2019 local elections under Prime Minister Theresa May.
The death of former BBC Northern Ireland political editor Stephen Grimason means that one of the secrets of the peace process will never be revealed. No matter how many times he was asked, Stephen never disclosed who leaked him a copy of the Good Friday Agreement before it was published in April 1998. "A source is for life, not just for one day," he told me, when I last asked him. Stephen was a man of his word. The only extra information he disclosed was that there was more than one person involved.
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement (Irish: Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April, Good Friday, 1998, that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. It was a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. It is made up of the Multi-Party Agreement between most of Northern Ireland's political parties, and the British–Irish Agreement between the British and Irish governments. Northern Ireland's present devolved system of government is based on the agreement.Issues relating to sovereignty, governance, discrimination, military and paramilitary groups, justice and policing were central to the agreement. It restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of "power sharing" and it included acceptance of the principle of consent, commitment to civil and political rights, cultural parity of esteem, police reform, paramilitary disarmament and early release of paramilitary prisoners, followed by demilitarisation. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and Ireland ("North–South"), and between Ireland and the United Kingdom ("East–West").The agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998. In Northern Ireland, voters were asked in the 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum whether they supported the multi-party agreement. In Ireland, voters were asked whether they would allow the state to sign the agreement and allow necessary constitutional changes (Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland) to facilitate it. The people of both jurisdictions needed to approve the agreement to give effect to it.The British–Irish Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Good Friday Agreement.
Prince Harry plans to seek permission from the Court of Appeal to challenge a decision regarding the downgrading of his security when visiting the UK from the United States, despite losing his initial legal claim in the High Court. The High Court rejected his latest attempt to challenge the Home Office over the level of his security, affirming that the expert body, Ravec, was entitled to make the decision based on his change in status from a working royal. Prince Harry's legal team argued he was unfairly treated in the security changes, but the High Court found no unlawfulness in the decision-making process.
Human rights in the United Kingdom concern the fundamental rights in law of every person in the United Kingdom. An integral part of the UK constitution, human rights derive from common law, from statutes such as Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Human Rights Act 1998, from membership of the Council of Europe, and from international law.Codification of human rights is recent, but the UK law had one of the world's longest human rights traditions. Today the main source of jurisprudence is the Human Rights Act 1998, which incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic litigation.
Sir Keir Starmer of the Labour Party pledges to create a Border Security Command to combat people-smuggling gangs and allocate 75m from the Rwanda scheme for this purpose. The plan includes scrapping the Rwanda asylum scheme, considering asylum claims of those arriving on small boats, and hiring more specialists and cross-border police. This initiative follows Dover MP Natalie Elphicke's defection from the Conservatives, citing the government's failure to address small boat crossings in her constituency, a common arrival point for migrants crossing the English Channel.
Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson has announced his support for a series of proposed changes to Rishi Sunak's Rwanda bill, which could lead to his sacking or resignation. Anderson, known for his hardline stance on immigration, plans to vote in favor of amendments aiming to strengthen the prime minister's controversial Safety of Rwanda Bill. The bill aims to declare Rwanda a safe country and grant ministers powers to disregard certain sections of the Human Rights Act, but does not allow them to dismiss the European Convention on Human Rights to avoid deportation challenges.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against Greece in a case involving the shooting of a Syrian man during a coast guard pursuit of a migrant smuggling boat near a Greek island. Greece has been ordered to pay $87,000 in damages to the wife and two children of the victim. The court found that Greece had failed to provide an adequate legal framework for the use of firearms during coast guard operations, and had violated the right to life under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce the creation of a new Border Security Command to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel. The unit, funded partially by scrapping the Tories' Rwanda deportation scheme, will have enhanced powers under the Counter Terrorism Act, including conducting stop and searches at the border, financial investigations, and issuing search and seizure warrants. Sir Keir emphasizes the criminal nature of these enterprises that exploit vulnerable individuals with impunity. The announcement follows the defection of Dover MP Natalie Elphicke to Labour from the Conservatives.
Anti-Israel protests have spread from U.S. college campuses to Europe, with demonstrations at the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and protests at universities in the U.K., including Oxford and Cambridge. Riot police confronted protesters at the University of Amsterdam, where an anti-Israel encampment was broken up. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for an end to antisemitic abuse at U.K. universities amidst concerns about antisemitism. In response to the protests, a House Republican bill proposes sending individuals convicted of illegal activity on college campuses to Gaza for six months.
The Dover MP said the Conservative Party had "lost its way" under Rishi Sunak Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has "let the people of this country down" by not delivering on his pledge to stop small boat crossings, Natalie Elphicke has said. The Dover MP, who defected from the Conservatives to Labour on Wednesday, said an alternative plan set out by Sir Keir Starmer in Kent on Friday was "absolutely the right one for border security". Speaking ahead of the Labour's leader's policy launch in Dover, Ms Elphicke said: "Nowhere is Rishi Sunak's lack of delivery clearer than on the issue of small boats". Home Secretary James Cleverly said Labour's plans would "make the UK the asylum capital of the world". The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953. All Council of Europe member states are party to the convention and new members are expected to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity.The convention established the European Court of Human Rights (generally referred to by the initials ECtHR). Any person who feels their rights have been violated under the convention by a state party can take a case to the court. Judgments finding violations are binding on the states concerned and they are obliged to execute them. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe monitors the execution of judgments, particularly to ensure payments awarded by the court appropriately compensate applicants for the damage they have sustained.The convention has sixteen protocols, which amend the convention framework.The convention has had a significant influence on the law in Council of Europe member countries and is widely considered the most effective international treaty for human rights protection.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India, passed in 2019, provides a faster pathway to citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, sparking outrage for excluding Muslims. The Act, seen as discriminating against certain communities, is criticized for being faith-based and favouring Hindu-supremacist ideologies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Critics argue the CAA violates the Indian Constitution by treating people unequally under the law and overlooking persecuted Muslim groups like Hazaras and Ahmadis.
Amnesty International's annual report condemns China, Russia, and the United States for leading the global disdain for international rules and values outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The report particularly criticizes Israel for its actions in Gaza, with the Secretary-General stating it has become a campaign of collective punishment. The report warns of the collapse of the post-World War II international order due to the brutal wars in Gaza and Ukraine, along with the rise of authoritarian policies. Several countries, including the US, the UK, and Germany, are accused of double standards in supporting Israel while denouncing war crimes elsewhere like in Ukraine.
Northern Ireland (Irish: Tuaisceart Éireann [ˈt̪ˠuəʃcəɾˠt̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ] ; Ulster-Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland that is variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares an open border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. At the 2021 census, its population was 1,903,175, making up around 3% of the UK's population and 27% of the population on the island of Ireland. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the UK Government. The government of Northern Ireland cooperates with the government of Ireland in several areas under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. The Republic of Ireland also has a consultative role on non-devolved governmental matters through the British–Irish Governmental Conference (BIIG).Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, creating a devolved government for the six northeastern counties. As was intended by unionists and their supporters in Westminster, Northern Ireland had a unionist majority, who wanted to remain in the United Kingdom; they were generally the Protestant descendants of colonists from Britain. Meanwhile, the majority in Southern Ireland (which became the Irish Free State in 1922), and a significant minority in Northern Ireland, were Irish nationalists (generally Catholics) who wanted a united independent Ireland. Today, the former generally see themselves as British and the latter generally see themselves as Irish, while a Northern Irish or Ulster identity is claimed by a significant minority from all backgrounds.The creation of Northern Ireland was accompanied by violence both in defence of and against partition. During the conflict of 1920–22, the capital Belfast saw major communal violence, mainly between Protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist civilians. More than 500 were killed and more than 10,000 became refugees, mostly Catholics. For the next fifty years, Northern Ireland had an unbroken series of Unionist Party governments. There was informal mutual segregation by both communities, and the Unionist governments were accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. In the late 1960s, a campaign to end discrimination against Catholics and nationalists was opposed by loyalists, who saw it as a republican front. This unrest sparked the Troubles, a thirty-year conflict involving republican and loyalist paramilitaries and state forces, which claimed over 3,500 lives and injured 50,000 others. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement was a major step in the peace process, including paramilitary disarmament and security normalisation, although sectarianism and segregation remain major social problems, and sporadic violence has continued.The economy of Northern Ireland was the most industrialised in Ireland at the time of partition, but soon began to decline, exacerbated by the political and social turmoil of the Troubles. Its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17.2% in 1986, but dropped back down to below 10% in the 2010s, similar to the rate of the rest of the UK. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, with Northern Ireland sharing both the culture of Ireland and the culture of the United Kingdom. In many sports, there is an All-Ireland governing body or team for the whole island; the most notable exception is association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games.
The European Convention on Nationality (E.T.S. No. 166) was signed in Strasbourg on 6 November 1997. It is a comprehensive convention of the Council of Europe dealing with the law of nationality. The convention is open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe and the non-member States which have participated in its elaboration and for accession by other non-member States. The Convention came into force on 1 March 2000 after ratification by 3 countries. As of 2021, the convention has been signed by 29 countries and ratified by 21 of those countries.
The National Human Rights Commission of India (abbreviated as NHRC) is a statutory body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PHRA). The NHRC is responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights, defined by the act as "Rights Relating To Life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the constitution or embodied in the international covenants and enforceable by courts in India".
Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock has lost a bid to have a libel claim brought against him by MP Andrew Bridgen dismissed entirely. The claim stemmed from a social media post where Hancock allegedly accused Bridgen of antisemitism, leading to a legal battle. The High Court judge struck out certain parts of Bridgen's case but allowed him to make amendments, stating that he had the opportunity to remedy the deficiencies. Hancock's defense argued that the claim lacked a realistic prospect of success, but the judge did not dismiss the whole claim.
The UK government's duty to report legislation, aimed at protecting children from abuse, does not include doctors, teachers, or nurses, falling below recommendations by the seven-year independent inquiry into child sexual abuse. The legislation has triggered outrage from campaigners, lawyers, and abuse survivors, with critics calling it a confused and contradictory sham. Failure to report abuse of a child will not be a criminal offense for most professionals. The government's amendment to the criminal justice bill lacks real punishment, with conditions only triggering reporting duties upon hard evidence, like witnessing abuse or disclosure by the child or abuser.
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