CAJ has long campaigned for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, and drew up its first proposed Bill of Rights in 1985. We therefore intended to be very active in the post-Agreement Bill of Rights process and developed our own programme of work to complement the Commission's activities. This included employing a full-time Bill of Rights worker – Aideen Gilmore – to co-ordinate these activities.

CAJ's work in this area has a number of aims:

• To ensure the best possible text for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.
• To broaden the ownership process of the eventual product.
• To make the Bill of Rights 'real' by beginning to develop litigation strategies.

• The production of an Information Pack on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland designed to encourage debate among local community groups;
• Organising a series of lectures and events on a Bill of Rights to bring international expertise to bear;
• The widespread circulation of submissions and publications to inform the debate; and
• Co-convening the Human Rights Consortium (see on)

Together with Amnesty International, CAJ co-convenes the Human Rights Consortium, a coalition of over 100 community groups, non-governmental organisations and trade unions, which campaigns for a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.

The Consortium has been in operation for over three years and CAJ plays a very active part. The last year has included meetings with political parties and governments, attending party political conferences, an event at Stormont on "A Bill of Rights - what it means to us", and a "Tree of Hope" to mark International Human Rights Day. For more details see the Human Rights Consortium's website - www.billofrightsni.org

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission was established by the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as a statutory body to protect and promote human rights. It was, in particular, mandated:

"…to consult and to advise on the scope for defining, in Westminster legislation, rights supplementary to those in the European Convention on Human Rights, to reflect the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland, drawing as appropriate on international instruments and experience. These additional rights to reflect the principles of mutual respect for the identity and ethos of both communities and parity of esteem, and – taken together with the ECHR – to constitute a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. Among the issues for consideration by the Commission will be:

• the formulation of a general obligation on government and public bodies fully to respect, on the basis of equality of treatment, the identity and ethos of both communities in Northern Ireland; and
• a clear formulation of the rights not to be discriminated against and to equality of opportunity in both the public and private sectors."