Supreme Court Dillon Judgment

Lord Dodds of Duncairn Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2026 Lords Chamber

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

My Lords, that is the easiest question of the day: of course I welcome the noble Lord’s report. I thoroughly enjoy our conversations about the work of his committee, which I argue is one of the more important committees at the moment—but then I would say that. The Government remain committed to Article 2 of the Windsor Framework. The Supreme Court’s judgment has not affected this commitment and has provided important clarity on how Article 2 should be interpreted and applied in future. It has confirmed the Government’s long-standing position that the rights protected by Article 2 of the Windsor Framework are those concerned with the cessation of the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. However, given the length and complexity of the judgment, the Government and stakeholders will need the requisite time to digest its content, and I will need many briefings by KCs to understand it. We are happy to continue that conversation with the committee in due course.

[Lord Dodds of Duncairn (DUP)]

My Lords, I warmly welcome the way in which the Minister introduced her remarks by referencing the sacrifices made by members of the security forces, who suffered grievous losses to protect everybody in Northern Ireland. That is often forgotten in the perverted twisting of history that is now going on relentlessly in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. I welcome the ruling of the Supreme Court in seeking to restrict the application of EU law as far as human rights in Northern Ireland are concerned, but she will be aware that the quangos that were mentioned earlier have spent a large amount of money seeking to expand the application of Article 2 in ways that are erroneous and wrong. That has undermined public confidence in those quangos in both communities. That must be central to the Belfast agreement and its application, something that the Government need to be very aware of. Can the Minister confirm that Article 2 still has a direct effect in terms of the application of the law in certain circumstances? Will she elaborate on what those may be?

Finally, if she looks at the legacy legislation, can she confirm what representations her Government have made to the Irish Government—who have had a de facto amnesty for decades against IRA and other terrorists who used their country as a safe haven during the Troubles, and also in relation to refusing to co-operate with the ICRIR—about their continuing case in the international courts against the United Kingdom? The Irish Government refuse to co-operate with the commission; the noble Lord, Lord Caine, has outlined and spoken of this and talked about the need for more resources. The Irish Government refuse to co-operate. Has that been called out by the Government?

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

I thank my noble friend—I do not think I am meant to say “my noble friend”, but I am going to anyway. His advice and support while we are undertaking this is key, and while we may not be able to agree on every point in the legislation as it comes forward, I am very grateful for the time that he gives me.

The noble Lord asked specific questions about Article 2 of the Windsor Framework. We have always been firmly committed to Article 2 and to the rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity it protects, as set out in the Good Friday agreement. On the specifics that he is asking for, I hope he will indulge me and let me write to him about the detail, but he raised a very important point about the Irish Government. The Government have done a joint framework agreement, which includes unprecedented commitments by the Irish Government. I am aware of the scepticism from certain parties about what the next steps will be. Although the interstate case is a matter for the Irish Government, the Secretary of State will raise it directly with the Minister for Foreign Affairs this week to discuss how it should be going.