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Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Bill

It is possible that when the rights of the people of Northern Ireland or people generally are infringed, the commission has a right to comment. Whether a distinction can be made between political comments and comments on infringements of human rights is a matter for debate. The hon. Gentleman intervened on the Minister earlier about the alleged duplication involved in the appointment of a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board, given the existence of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission. His intervention may have been tongue-in-cheek, but he is a straightforward speaker, so it probably was not. In fact, there could be a conflict. The human rights personnel of the Northern Ireland Policing Board act for the board in advising and guiding it on human rights; they do not investigate human rights cases. I do not think that that bit of obfuscation was entirely accurate, but we will leave it at that. We will be pursuing our amendments. Our arguments have been rehearsed on Second Reading, in Committee and in interviews with Ministers over many months, and the amendments will not go away. They contain what remain fundamental requirements for the fulfilment of the human rights guardianship of Northern Ireland, and I ask the Minister to consider them further, perhaps when the Bill is dealt with in the other House. We have presented the arguments, we have heard the replies, and we will present our arguments again in another form and at another time. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.