RSI in the House of Lords: The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill breaches international human rights law

25th November 2022

On 22 November 2022, the House of Lords Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland cited RSI’s concerns about the negative impacts of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill on human rights.

In a letter to the Foreign Secretary, Rt Hon James Cleverly MP, the Sub-Committee noted that RSI’s submission ‘expressed concern that the Bill, and in particular its provisions concerning the role of the CJEU [the Court of Justice of the European Union], could affect aspects of the operation of Article 2 of the Protocol.’

In our submission, we argued that:

• Under no circumstances should the Article 2 of the Protocol, which requires that there be no diminution of human rights standards in Northern Ireland, be amended or undermined, because it will breach international human rights law.
• The UK government should preserve the existing terms of the Protocol – withdrawing the Protocol Bill – or negotiate a settlement with the EU.
• The UK government should also halt pending legislation which threatens to undermine the human rights framework in Northern Ireland, for instance by weakening the Human Rights Act 1998.

For more information, see the Sub-Committee’s letter here.