Written question asked by Lord Laird (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 November 2008.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:Following the decision of the House of Lords in In Re E (a child) (Northern Ireland) (2008) UKHL 66, how much the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has spent on this case since 2001; how much the Police Service of Northern Ireland has spent defending it; and what action they will take in response to the criticism by Lord Hoffmann, of the intervention of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

Answer: Decisions on litigation in this case are an operational matter for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, which is independent from Government. The noble Lord may like to write to the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on this matter. The Government have no plans to take any action in response to the comments by Lord Hoffman. I will ask the Chief Constable to write to the noble Lord, in line with the Answer of 5 November (Official Report, col. WA 70) that set out the policy for answering parliamentary Questions regarding external bodies.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 705 c288WA; 6410
Session: 2007-08
Subjects: Children's rights House of Lords Legal costs Judgements Protest Police Service of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Violence Holy Cross Girls' Primary School
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk