'The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 1998 & European Convention on Human Rights: Explainer'
Prof Aoife O'Donoghue together with Prof Colin Murray of Newcastle University have launched an Explainer on the relationship between the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Explainer was published by the Committee for the Administration of Justice with Forewards by Peter Hain, Labour Peer and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (2005-2007) and Claire Hanna MP, Leader of the SDLP
This explainer sets out why the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is inseparable from the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (B/GFA). Contrary to recent claims, the UK cannot withdraw from the ECHR without undermining its international commitments under the Agreement. The report traces the ECHR’s central role in the B/GFA’s rights protections, examines how treaty law secures these obligations, and shows why alternative “equivalent” arrangements cannot meet the Agreement’s requirements. It also highlights how post-Brexit treaties, including the Windsor Framework, reinforce the UK’s duty to maintain rights protections in Northern Ireland. The conclusion is clear: withdrawal from the ECHR would breach the B/GFA, destabilise Northern Ireland’s constitutional settlement, and jeopardise hard-won peace.
You can read the full report https://caj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GFA-ECHR-Explainer-Report.pdf
