OPINION:The changing nature of modern Ireland requires a credible and effective voice on human rights, writes Éamonn Mac Aodha
IN 1948 the international community united in the shadow of the horrors of the second World War to adopt the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR). The declaration summarised a set of agreed values, ranging from the right to life to fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression and assembly.
Sixty years on, we take many of these values for granted.
In the coming days, a conference in Dublin will hear why the promotion and protection of these human rights, including at the domestic level, is still a work in progress.
The conference takes place at University College Dublin tomorrow and Wednesday, September 16th and 17th, and is co-hosted by the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights.
The event will gather national human rights institutions from across Europe.
The theme of the conference is strengthening independent national human rights structures in order to enhance domestic protection of human rights.
In addition to participants from over 40 countries, the conference will have the opportunity to hear from representatives of the Council of Europe, the United Nations and the new European Union Fundamental Rights Agency on their relationship with national human rights institutions.
For much of the last 60 years the focus of the international human rights protection system had primarily been at the intergovernmental level.
This entails states reporting on their performance to expert committees at the United Nations, who in turn issue a "score card" on the state's record.
In 1993 the UN General Assembly adopted the Paris Principles on National Human Rights Institutions.
In doing so, the General Assembly underlined its conviction that institutions at the national level can also play a key role in protecting and promoting human rights and in developing and enhancing public awareness of those rights.
The Paris Principles emphasise the need for such national institutions to be independent from government, and stress that they must be adequately resourced.
This year also marks the 10th Anniversary of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, to which the IHRC owes its provenance. By way of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, the Irish Government committed to establish a human rights commission with a mandate and remit equivalent to that within Northern Ireland.
The agreement set out the role and functions of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission to include keeping under review the adequacy and effectiveness of laws and practices, making recommendations to government as necessary; providing information and promoting awareness of human rights; considering draft legislation and, in appropriate cases, bringing court proceedings or providing assistance to individuals doing so.
This same role and these functions are reflected in the legislation establishing the IHRC.
Today, there are over 60 National Human Rights Institutions globally, including the IHRC and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, which are fully in compliance with the required standards set out in the Paris Principles.
These 60 institutions represent the growing trend towards the establishment and strengthening of national institutions, a theme which also forms the primary focus of this week's Dublin conference.
It is just some six years since the IHRC began its work.
With a small staff and limited resources, the IHRC has worked hard to fulfil its mandate to protect and promote human rights for everyone in Ireland.
It has also positioned itself among the international society of National Human Rights Institutions and is privileged to be the current chair of the European Group of National Human Rights Institutions, acting as a focal point and representative for such institutions across Europe.
In its role as the statutory body for the protection and promotion of human rights in Ireland, the IHRC has provided observations on the human rights implications of over 35 legislative Bills, produced major research reports on issues such as determination of life sentences and the rights of de facto couples, and provided detailed submissions to the United Nations bodies which monitor state performance under the major international human rights treaties.
The IHRC has also exercised its legal powers to provide independent advice to the superior courts in individual cases which raised important human rights issues, and it has in addition availed of its statutory right to conduct enquiries.
Moreover, it has hosted numerous awareness raising initiatives, including roundtables, conferences and public lectures.
In this work the human rights standards that the IHRC has been established to protect are those guaranteed by the Constitution and by those international agreements to which Ireland has voluntarily committed itself.
In carrying out its role, the IHRC acts independently and knowing that not everything it has to say will be welcomed by all.
Ireland has a proud record on human rights, and the legislation establishing the IHRC gets it right in many respects.
Over recent months the IHRC has, however, sought direct accountability to the Oireachtas, in keeping with the Paris Principles - rather than to a government department, as is currently the case.
The IHRC has also recently experienced a severe funding crisis which is impacting on its capacity to fulfil its statutory functions.
It is of note that the UN Human Rights Committee has also recently said that Ireland should strengthen the independence and the capacity of the IHRC.
As has been widely reported, the Government is currently conducting a review of Ireland's human rights infrastructure and in this regard is contemplating the possible merger of several bodies, including the IHRC. This move is at least partly informed by current national economic difficulties.
The IHRC has engaged actively with the review. Our starting point is that any changes to national structures must not harm the protections which exist for everyone in Ireland at present.
As IHRC president Dr Maurice Manning has already publicly indicated, the IHRC has an open mind with regard to the review, but since the IHRC currently receives only €2 million in total annual funding, we are not sure how the review might lead to savings.
In this context the point has been made that domestic structures for the protection of human rights can be among the most effective, cost efficient, and dynamic means of ensuring that the Government is living up to the promises it has made to protect and promote the dignity and rights of people in Ireland.
Finally, we have also stressed that human rights issues will continue to arise across a growing range of areas.
So far this year alone, the IHRC has provided recommendations on legislation on issues as wide ranging as juries, mental health and charitable organisations.
The changing nature of modern Ireland, especially in respect of demography, globalisation and technology, makes the application of human rights standards at the same time both more complex and more necessary.
Whatever its form might take, an effective and independent body to provide a credible voice on and monitoring of these questions can only be to the benefit of all those living in Ireland.
• Éamonn Mac Aodha is chief executive of the Irish Human Rights Commission