Supreme Court Dillon Judgment

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his contribution and for his work and interest in this area, both personally and through his committee. On the timing of when the RO comes, the noble Lord will appreciate that that might be above my pay grade. The Chief Whip has now left the Chamber, so I could get myself in a bit of trouble—and I would prefer not to. On amendments, the noble Lord makes a reasonable request; let me speak to the department and the Secretary of State to see what I can facilitate. On the Peter May report, the noble Lord is absolutely right that we have just had an internal review of the workings of ICRIR. The findings of that review were stark and suggest that we absolutely need to bring forward the legislation to strengthen the governance arrangements, so that every community can have confidence in the process and so that the workforce can also have confidence in how the legacy commission operates.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for the Statement. One of the families that was part of the Dillon judgment submission was a former constituent of mine, John McEvoy, who was sitting in a pub in Kilcoo, County Down, when his friend was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries in November 1992. Provisions within the EU withdrawal agreement of 2020 give statutory authority to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Equality Commission to act as a dedicated mechanism for the protection of rights under Article 2 of the Windsor Framework. Therefore, will my noble friend the Minister, working with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, ensure that this statutory authority given to both commissions is not diluted and is protected and that they have sufficient resources to continue their work in a non-restricted manner?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My noble friend raises yet another heartbreaking case related to the Troubles; every Member of your Lordships’ House who has been touched by the Troubles has their own story and their own heartbreak. On my noble friend’s substantive point, the Government remain fully and unequivocally committed to the protection of human rights and safeguards in Northern Ireland, including our statutory obligations under Article 2 of the Windsor Framework. The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission play a vital role in the dedicated mechanism to monitor, advise on and report on these commitments.

While the funding of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is a devolved matter, the Northern Ireland Office maintains regular active dialogue with executive colleagues on a wide range of issues impacting rights and governance across Northern Ireland. The UK Government also provided ring- fenced funding of £1.1 million in 2025-26 to enable the ECNI to deliver its dedicated mechanism commitments, with similar levels of annual ring-fenced funding committed to until the end of the current spending review period. I have a much more extensive answer than that for my noble friend, but I will write to her with the details.