INTRODUCTION
NORTHERN IRELAND
(Huridocs Code: 8239)
1. BACKGROUND DATA
Location: Western Europe
Area: 14, 120 sq. km.
Population: 1.5 million
Main ethnic/communal groups:
Protestant/British/Unionist - 60%
Catholic/Irish/Nationalist - 40%
2. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY
Northern Ireland was created as a governmental unit within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1921.
The whole of the island of Ireland had previously been subject to
British rule since 1192 A.D. The part of Ireland which is now
Northern Ireland was settled by large numbers of Scottish and
English Protestants in the early 1600s who displaced and
eventually outnumbered the established Irish Catholic population in
this area, while in the rest of Ireland the Irish Catholic
population constituted more than 90 per cent of the total. The
dominant Protestant community in Northern Ireland resisted
British attempts from 1880 until 1914 to grant home rule to the
whole of Ireland. In 1919 nationalists in the southern part of
Ireland commenced a guerilla campaign against British rule which
led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. The treaty permitted the
partition of the country into the Irish Free State (which
remained a British dominion) and Northern Ireland. Later, the
Irish Free State became the wholly independent Republic of
Ireland. Northern Ireland remained an integral, but self-
governing, part of the United Kingdom under the terms of the
Government of Ireland Act 1920. The devolved Parliament and
Government of Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972 and Northern
Ireland is currently directly ruled by the British Government
under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 and the Northern
Ireland Act 1974.
3. NATURE AND SCALE OF THE CONFLICT
The current conflict derives from the aspirations of many members
of the Catholic nationalist community to join with the Irish
Republic and the opposition from virtually the whole of the
Protestant unionist community to any form of Irish unification.
There were some sporadic but ineffective paramilitary violence
against the government of Northern Ireland from members of the
Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1939 and between 1956 and 1962.
In 1968-69 a civil rights campaign was initiated on behalf of the
Catholic community in respect of discrimination in employment,
housing and local government franchise. This led to intercommunal
violence and the British Army was deployed as a peace keeping
force in 1969. During the 1970s the IRA was reactivated
first as a defensive force and then as an insurrectionary force
committed to the expulsion of British troops from Northern
Ireland. The IRA have been responsible for sustained
paramilitary operations both against the security forces and
against civilian economic targets involving shooting attacks and
various forms of bombing. These operations have also at times
been extended to Great Britain and Europe. There are also a number
of Protestant paramilitary groups, notably the Ulster Volunteers
Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) which
direct their attacks largely against civilian members of the
Catholic community.
The forces directly involved in the conflict have remained
relatively constant. British army troops reached a peak of some
18,000 in 1973 and have since then been maintained at some 10,000
to 12,000 plus some 7,000 to 8,000 in the Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR), a locally recruited force of full-time and part-time
soldiers. The locally recruited police, the Royal Ulster
Constabulary (RUC), number some 12,000. Almost all the locally
recruited forces are members of the Protestant community. There
are no accurate figures for the numbers in the IRA, the UDA and
the UVF, but active paramilitaries are thought to number no more
than a few hundreds at any one time.
The numbers of persons killed as a result of the emergency
averaged some 300 per year (200 per million population) in the
early 1970s and some 100 per year (66 per million population)
from 1976 to 1990. The majority of deaths (57.72%) have been
attributed to nationalist paramilitary groups, principally the IRA,
followed by loyalist paramilitary groups (25.31%) and the
security forces (11.81%). A small proportion of killings (5.17%)
have also been attributed to other and unidentified paramilitary
groups. [For details, see "Agenda", report of the Irish Information
Partnership.]
In 1993 the British and Irish governments initiated a process
of dialogue on the political future of Northern Ireland involving,
as well as themselves, all constitutional political parties in the
province. This process resulted in a Joint Declaration ("the
Downing Street Declaration") by the prime ministers of both
countries which provided the basis for a possible resolution of
the conflict by peaceful and democratic means. [For full text of
the Declaration, use keyword: DOWNING]
4. LEGAL STRUCTURES
(A) Ordinary Legal Structures
The Northern Ireland legal system is very similar to that in
Britain. Though there has always been a written constitution for
Northern Ireland, initially in the Government of Ireland Act 1920
and now in the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, much of
the system of government is subject to unwritten British
constitutional conventions. The legal system is based on judge-made
common law though this is increasingly supplanted by statutory
measures. Some of the statutes which apply are restricted to
Northern Ireland; others apply throughout the United Kingdom.
The ordinary civil and criminal courts are closely modelled on
those in Britain and there is a final right of appeal from the
Northern Ireland Court of Appeal to the House of Lords in London.
Ordinary police and criminal procedures are now governed largely
by the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989
which is almost identical to the British Police and Criminal
Evidence Act 1986.
(B) Emergency legal structure
Though there are no formal provisions for a declaration of an
internal emergency, Northern Ireland has been under a de facto
state of emergency since its creation. From 1922 until 1973
emergency powers were continuously in force under the Civil
Authorities (Special Powers) Acts (Northern Ireland) 1922-23.
These gave wide powers of arrest for interrogation and internment
without trial and an almost unrestricted power to make regulations
"for the preservation of peace and maintenance of order".
Following the imposition of direct rule from London in 1972 many
of these powers were continued in the Northern Ireland (Emergency
Provisions) Act 1973, which also granted specific powers to
proscribe named organisation and gave wide powers of arrest and
questioning by the Army. This legislation also created a system
of special non-jury courts, known as Diplock Courts, in which
most serious terrorist offences are tried by a single judge under
slightly relaxed rules of evidence. The power to intern without
trial under this Act was used extensively between 1972 and 1975
but has not been used since. This legislation was amended in
1976, re-enacted in 1978, amended again in 1987 and re-enacted
once again in 1991. [For full current text, use keyword: EPA]
Many important emergency powers are also provided under the
Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act which applies
throughout the United Kingdom. This legislation was introduced
in 1974, amended in 1976 and 1984 and was re-enacted in 1989. It
authorises arrest for questioning for periods of up to seven
days, and the exclusion of named persons from Great Britain to
Northern Ireland or the Irish Republic and from Northern Ireland
to Great Britain or the Irish Republic. [For full current text,
use keyword: PTA]
Some additional changes in the laws of evidence, permitting
the failure of a suspect to give evidence to be taken into
account along with other evidence of guilt, have been introduced
under the Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989. [For
full text, use keyword: EVIDENCE] Also, under the
Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989
referred to above, it has been made permissible for the police to
take mouth swabs from suspects without their consent, such swabs
being classified as "non-intimate" samples [Section 53 and 63].
The 1989 Order also makes it possible for witnesses in court
proceedings to give evidence through a television link where
the witness is afraid to give evidence in open court.
In October 1988 the Home Secretary issued directions to
British television companies banning direct telecasts of speech
by members and supporters of certain organisations, including
legally recognised organisations such as Sinn Fein and the Ulster
Defence Association. Those directions were revoked in September
1994. [For full text of the directions and revocation orders,
use keyword: MEDIABAN]
(C) Declarations/Derogations
No internal declarations of emergency are required or have been
made under the main emergency legislation. The following
declarations have been made in respect of threats to supply of
goods and services under the Emergency Provisions Act (Northern
Ireland) 1926. [For full text of the Act, use keyword:
EMERGLAW26 and for the declarations: DECLARATIONS]
(1) Proclamation dated 10.02.72 - revoked on 16.11.73;
(2) Proclamation dated 16.11.73 - revoked on 19.05.74;
(3) Proclamation dated 19.05.74 - revoked on 19.09.74;
(4) Proclamation dated 11.01.79 - revoked on 14.01.79.
The following derogations from international conventions
have been made. [For full text, use keyword: DEROGATIONS]
(1) Derogation dated 23.12.88 - Communication from the Foreign
Secretary of Her Majesty's Government to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations derogating from the U.K. Government's
obligations under Art. 9(3) of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights following the judgment of the European Court
of Human Rights in the case of Brogan & Ors. which held that,
by allowing for internment without trial for up to 7 days, the
Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1984 had
violated Art. 5(3) of the European Convention on Human Rights to
which the U.K. is a party.
(2) Derogation dated 23.12.88 - Communication from the U.K.
Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe to the Secretary-
General of the Council under Art. 15(1) of the European Convention
on Human Rights derogating from the provisions of that Convention
for similar reasons.
The U.K. Government had also entered a derogation under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on
the following earlier occasion:
17 May 1976;
and under the European Convention on Human Rights on:
(1) 27 June 1957;
(2) 25 September 1969;
(3) 20 August 1971;
(4) 23 January 1973;
(e) 16 August 1973;
(f) 19 September 1975;
(g) 12 December 1975;
(h) 18 December 1978.
(D) Relevant Judicial Decisions
[Note: A summary of the following decisions can be accessed by
using the keywords cited at the end of each entry.]
(a) National Decisions
(1) Reg. v Governor of Belfast Prison ex p. O'Hanlon (1922) -
refusal by court to inquire into reasons for administrative
detention in habeas corpus proceedings [Keyword: DETENTION]
(2) McEldowney v Forde (1971) - refusal by court to inquire into
justification of proscription order made under the Civil
Authorities (Special Powers) Act (N.I.) [Keyword: REGULATIONS]
(3) Reg. v Londonderry Justices ex p. Hume (1972) - legislation
by Northern Ireland Parliament conferring powers on British Army
held unconstitutional; amending legislation introduced within 24
hours [Keyword: ARREST]
(4) Re McElduff (1972) - Army must inform suspect of broad legal
basis for arrest [Keyword: ARREST]
(5) Attorney-General for Northern Ireland's Reference (No. 1 of
1975) (1977) - charge of manslaughter instead of murder not
permissible in cases of alleged misuse of lethal force by security
forces [Keywords: LETHAL FORCE]
(6) Reg. v Officer-in-charge of Castlereagh Police Office, ex p.
Lynch (1980) - repeated or successive use of emergency arrest
powers not unlawful [Keyword: ARREST]
(7) McKee v Chief Constable (1984) - suspicion of involvement in
specific terrorist incidents not required under emergency arrest
power [Keyword: ARREST]
(8) Murray v Ministry of Defence (1985) - Army arrest power
permits questioning about alleged offences but not unspecific
intelligence gathering [Keyword: ARREST]
(9) McKerr v Armagh Coroner (1990) - bar under Coroners Regulations
on summoning person responsible for lethal shooting to give
evidence in inquest not unlawful [Keywords: LETHAL FORCE]
(10)Re Gillan (1988) - assault leading to injury during detention
may render the detention unlawful [Keyword: ILLTREATMENT]
(11)Reg. v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p.
Brind & Ors. (1991) - ban on television broadcasts of speeches by
supporters of terrorism not violative of freedom of speech
[Keyword: MEDIABAN]
(b) International Decisions
(1) Ireland v United Kingdom (1978) - derogation and use of
internment held within European Convention on Human Rights; certain
interrogation techniques held to be inhuman and degrading treatment
[Keywords: DEROGATION, DETENTION, TORTURE]
(2) McFeeley v United Kingdom (1981) - refusal of prison
authorities to accept claims to special status for terrorist
offenders not in breach of European Convention on Human Rights
[Keyword: PRISON]
(3) Brogan v United Kingdom (1987) - arrest for questioning for
more than four days without judicial authorisation in breach of
the European Convention on Human Rights [Keyword: ARREST]
(4) Brannigan & McBride v. United Kingdom (1993) - derogation of
the United Kingdom government dated 23.12.88 valid under Article
15 of the European Convention on Human Rights [Keyword:
DEROGATION]
5. HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS
The major human rights concerns have centred on the following
issues:
(a) Lethal Force: alleged operation of shoot-to-kill policies by
security forces throughout the emergency but principally in
1978-79, 1982 and from 1987 onwards; alleged manipulation of
coroners inquests to prevent full evidence of incidents being
produced;
(b) Torture: alleged use of torture and/or inhuman or degrading
treatment on persons held for interrogation in 1971-72; alleged
systematic beating of persons held for interrogation in 1976-78;
alleged inhuman treatment of prisoners during protests over
political status in 1978-81;
(c) Detention: alleged unjustified and discriminatory use of
detention powers in 1969 and from 1971 to 1975;
(d) Arrest: alleged use of emergency arrest and search powers to
harrass members of the Catholic community throughout emergency;
(e) Trial: alleged use of special 'Diplock' courts to secure
unjustified convictions, many based on involuntary or fabricated
confessions, since 1972; alleged manipulation of evidence given
by informers from paramilitary groups in 'supergrass trials'
between 1983-85.((