Am I the only person having a problem downloading the document ? Loads 15 pages as usual then freezes.

One question...In the Text of the Belfast Agreement
the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 it is specified for and by the ROI "the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas". Is this also defined anywhere in the British Legislation ?

This comment may straddle both of today's threads on this topic, Mick, so my apologies for that in advance.

The relevant paragraph in the Agreement, quoted on the a href="http://www.ucc.ie/law/events/charter_rights/">UCC Law Faculty website, states that the joint committee of representatives of the two Human Rights Commissions will consider the establishment of a charter "reflecting and endorsing agreed measures for the protection of the fundamental [human] rights of everyone living in the island of Ireland".

Bruce Dickson's preferred model for that charter, as outlined in the linked document, and the questions presented in today's accompanying thread, would appear to go beyond that remit - bringing in the UK government (and only mentioning the NI Executive in parenthesis) and introducing references such as 'guarantees to the two main communities in Northern Ireland that their rights will be respected'. The objective of their deliberations could be construed as attempting to define their own role through the model adopted. None of this, it would seem to me, is an appropriate role for a Charter of Fundamental Human Rights – as described in the Agreement.

If they select model B, as described in Bruce Dickson's document, the Joint Committee would seem to be intent on creating a parallel, but separate, track to the Agreement, the Bill of Rights and the incorporation of the European Convention by the Irish Government, as well as any future political process.

Far better, surely, for the Joint Committee to separate its aims thus - a declaratory Charter (model A) is first set up. Then the relevant Committees, north and south, work as persuaders towards having that Charter endorsed by the Irish Government and the NI Assembly where it can then be incorporated in future legislation – compliance of legislation with the Charter could be tested if necessary in the courts. Monitoring and enforcement, an area that seems more than a little vague at present, then becomes available to all, as it should be, rather than the domain of a ‘Parliamentary Committee’ or another 'international' body. That approach would seem to fulfill the objectives of the relevant paragraph of the Agreement of “reflecting and endorsing agreed measures for the protection of the fundamental [human] rights of everyone living in the island of Ireland”. It neither stifles nor promotes any possible future constitutional changes.

One other issue does concern me, however, and also ties in with my comment regarding the attempts to define a role for the Joint Committee. Bruce Dickson seems to rapidly expand his argument from his interpretation of the wording of the Agreement as “enhancing the protection of rights” (paragraph 2, page 1 of hrdic.pdf) to ‘enhancing the rights’ – it is this expansion of remit that seems to lead to his conclusion in favour of the particular form of model B he endorses. I accept that this represents his position last autumn, but has he changed his position?