Bill of Rights shelving is 'good news for Northern Ireland'

Conservative MP Julian Smith was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from July 2019 to February 2020

A decision to shelve plans for a law that would give UK ministers the power to ignore European human rights rulings is "good news for Northern Ireland", according to a former Northern Ireland secretary.

Julian Smith said it helps the Good Friday Agreement, as it relies on international human rights law.

Former justice secretary Dominic Raab had championed the Bill of Rights bill.

He said it would reassert the primacy of UK law on human rights cases.

The bill would have allowed ministers to ignore judgement sets down by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

A source has told BBC political editor Chris Mason that Liz Truss's new administration was "reviewing the most effective means to deliver objectives through our legislative agenda" and the bill was unlikely to progress in its current form.

Earlier this year the Northern Ireland Human Rights Consortium, which represents 160 civil-society organisations, said the legislation would "violate" the Good Friday Agreement.

The peace deal signed in 1998 largely ended the conflict in Northern Ireland.

In section six of the Good Friday Agreement, the British government pledged to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into Northern Ireland law.

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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rules on alleged breaches of the convention by nations which signed it from 1950 onwards.

The SDLP and Alliance Party had expressed concerns about the Bill of Rights legislation during its previous stages in the House of Commons.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission - a watchdog set up under the Good Friday Agreement - had also criticised the government's approach.