Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government why they advised the United Nations 4th Universal Periodic Review of the UK that due to the lack of an Executive in Northern Ireland it was not possible to provide as comprehensive a response for Northern Ireland as for other parts of the UK; and why was the Northern Ireland Office not able to seek out the information required.

The Universal Periodic Review can raise any human rights issue, in both reserved and devolved areas.

On reserved areas, the Northern Ireland Office was able to provide responses to recommendations, for example those concerning the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, based on policy positions and ongoing activity. However, for devolved areas it would be for the Northern Ireland Executive to provide a policy position, for instance in response to recommendations concerning equality legislation, employment policy for disabled people and the labour inspection regime. As no Executive was formed after the elections in 2022, and in the absence of Ministers, officials from the Northern Ireland departments were unable to provide the necessary response where Ministerial decisions or clearances are required.

The UK Government worked closely with the Devolved Governments to ensure that our Universal Periodic Review dialogue captured the range of action that had been and was being taken on a wide variety of human rights issues across the UK.