The editor of the Church of Ireland Gazettehas rejected arguments by the chairman of the Bill of Rights Forum in support of a special Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
The forum, chaired by Chris Sidoti, an international human rights expert, is considering proposals for such a Bill and is expected to report its recommendations in March.
However, Canon Ian Ellis has warned of possible serious constitutional implications brought about by such a Bill.
Writing in a personal capacity and avoiding any party political platform, he said in a statement to The Irish Timesthat he wished to counter a series of claims made in favour of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
Mr Sidoti has claimed in this newspaper that a Bill was required to help underpin the new political dispensation established under the Belfast Agreement.
However, Canon Ellis stated that such a measure "could tend to compromise the constitutional position of Northern Ireland", and "lead to the Northern Ireland judiciary exercising powers that should rest with elected representatives". Responding to five points made by Mr Sidoti, Canon Ellis claimed a Northern Ireland Bill would not "cement the peace", nor help mitigate the legacy of conflict. In fact, it could inhibit the building of trust, he argued.
The reaching of agreement on a Bill between various strands of Northern opinion would not necessarily be seen as a "shared achievement", he argued, nor would such a Bill need to "set the tone for the future" as Mr Sidoti had claimed.
Canon Ellis also argued a Bill of Rights was not necessary to "ensure a workable mechanism for implementing domestic and international human rights".
In a key part of his statement, the Gazetteeditor took issue with the Bill of Rights Forum chairman over the central claim that a Bill of Rights could ensure that every member of society enjoyed their human rights equally.
This was "a possible result of a Bill of Rights, but again its necessity and its advisability for the stated purpose have yet to be demonstrated," Canon Ellis claimed. The Church of Ireland Gazette is an independent publication, not the official organ of the church's hierarchy.