It is a pleasure to be here at this important event. Part of our mission is to instil a human rights culture more generally in Northern Ireland. It really owes its existence to the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Less easy to ignore is the fact that the Commission does not fully comply with the requirements of the UN's 'Paris Principles' on official institutions for the protection of human rights.
International standards are now very numerous and wide-ranging.
The Commission wishes to see these documents made central to the operation of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. After all, they contain standards which the UK government itself has promised to adhere to. I venture to suggest that Northern Ireland's criminal justice system has some way to go before it can honestly say that it is abiding by these specific standards.