Our Annual Report 2022-23 sets out the work on advising and holding the UK Government to account on the Implementation of its no diminution commitment in Article 2 of the Windsor Framework over the last year.
Speaking about the report, Geraldine McGahey, Chief Commissioner, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and Alyson Kilpatrick, Chief Commissioner, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission said:
“The UK Government made important commitments to protect equality and human rights post Brexit. This report highlights our advice to Government on the significant legislative developments that have taken place over the last year, including The Windsor Political Declaration, the Retained EU Law Bill, the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, the Illegal Migration Bill and the potential reform of the Human Rights Act. We remain concerned about the impact of these developments on equality and human rights in Northern Ireland."
Download the report
New research, commissioned by the Equality Commission from the independent think tank Pivotal, looks at the actual, perceived, and potential socioeconomic impacts of Brexit on minority ethnic and migrant people in Northern Ireland.
The research entitled
Impact of Brexit on Minority Ethnic and Migrant People in Northern Ireland (pdf, May 2023) has found that life in Northern Ireland is much more difficult for many minority ethnic and migrant people following Brexit.
Read the press release
The policy recommendations of the three Commissions relate to the impact of Brexit on the divergence of rights and equalities that have an island of Ireland dimension. Whilst some of these recommendations are made jointly by all three Commissions, most recommendations are made solely by the Equality Commission NI and NI Human Rights Commission.
The recommendations have been informed by the findings of the research report below.
The Equality Commission and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission joint Working Paper sets out their views on the scope of equality and human rights protected under the Ireland/ Northern Ireland Protocol. This important paper focuses on the extent of the UK Government’s commitment, under Article 2 of the Protocol, to protect certain equality and human rights after Brexit. The Working Paper provides an informed position on how the non-diminution commitment will work in practice and on the types of rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity protections that could potentially fall under the Article 2 commitment.
This report analyses current structures and identifies recommendations for reform of UK Parliament and NI Assembly mechanisms and processes so as to ensure that there can be effective scrutiny of the UK Government’s compliance with its commitment under Article 2(1) of the Protocol.