Abortion became decriminalised in Northern Ireland on 21st October 2019, with regulations setting out abortion access becoming effective on 31st March 2020. These regulations allow for abortion on request up...
Advancing a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
In times of crisis, the protection of human rights is fundamental. Covid-19 presents unprecedented challenges for any government. However, for a government in a post-conflict setting, such as Northern Ireland,...
Abortion In Northern Ireland – We Have Decriminilisation What Comes Next?
After decades of campaigning, parliamentary debates, court cases, national and international inquiries abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in October 2019 by the UK government. In doing so it became...
The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulation 2020
On 31 March 2020, The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 came into force. This is a landmark for the protection of reproductive rights in Northern Ireland. This blog provides a...
A Breakthrough for Language Rights in Northern Ireland
Following the collapse of the power-sharing coalition led by the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for a little over three years....
Landmark Judgment for Women’s Rights
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom concluded on the 7th June 2018 that Northern Ireland’s laws on termination of pregnancy are incompatible with human rights. More specifically, in situations...
The UK Supreme Court Decision on Abortion in Northern Ireland: A Pyrrhic Defeat?
In the wake of the Irish referendum vote to end the country’s ban on abortion via the repeal of the eighth amendment of the Irish constitution, the spotlight has turned...
The View Beyond Brexit: Equality Rights in Northern Ireland After Divorce (with Evelyn Collins)
The EU has played an important role both internationally and domestically in EU member states, in developing and protecting equality rights in the interest of ensuring peace and security. UK...
The Impact of Brexit on Human Rights in Northern Ireland (with Colin Harvey)
On December 8 2017, news broke that the UK has reached a deal with the EU. Theresa May announced that there would be no hard border between Ireland and Northern...
High Court in Belfast Finds the Northern Irish Executive Failed its Statutory Duty to Adopt a ‘Strategy’ to Tackle Poverty Based on ‘Objective Need’
On 30 June 2015 the High Court in Belfast ruled [2015] NIQB 59 that the Northern Irish Executive failed its statutory duty to adopt an identifiable strategy setting out how...
Lee v Ashers Bakery: Cake Now or Cake Later?
Northern Ireland delivers a small slice of sweet justice to the gay rights movement, but for some, it leaves a bitter aftertaste. Is the law moving too fast? Just days...
Let Them Buy (Gay) Cake: Anti-Discrimination in Northern Irish Courts
Over the weekend, the same-sex marriage referendum in Ireland dominated headlines around the world. The week before the referendum, the media’s attention was focused on Northern Ireland (‘NI’) and another...
