Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

I do not have any particular incident in mind, but that is not to say that evidence could not come to light indicating a past breach. As it stands, the clause would prevent the Human Rights Commission from carrying out such an investigation if evidence did come to light. It is important to remember that Northern Ireland is a society emerging from a long period of conflict, and we have to consider whether the interests of normalisation, confidence building and conflict resolution are best served by enabling or blocking the investigation of past human rights violations. Although it is true that the commission’s primary focus should always be the prevention of such abuses, its effectiveness in that regard is hardly enhanced by fettering its discretion as to what may or may not merit investigation. I have already referred to other oversight bodies, and in Northern Ireland the Equality Commission has numerous powers of investigation that are not subject to limitation based on the time at which the matter being investigated arose. The Commissioner for Children and Young People (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 specifically applies to matters arising before and after its commencement, and in suitably grave matters, the police ombudsman can investigate issues going back many years. To summarise, clause 19 serves no useful purpose in the protection of human rights. It should be left out of the Bill, or amended so as to allow the commission to exercise its powers in relation to documents and matters arising before 1 August 2007, as well as afterwards.