Preliminary Findings Report – Brexit, Human Rights and Equality Issues

The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 1998 (GFA 1998) is a major peace agreement, intended to bring an end to the conflict in (and about) Northern Ireland. The Agreement recognises that human rights and equality are fundamental to the peace process. In this regard it includes much more elaborate provisions on human rights and equality than were provided for in previous efforts to end the conflict. The section of the Agreement on ‘Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity’ is especially significant, and some of the equality-related issues are addressed in our preliminary report on socio-economic rights and equality. Brexit is therefore advancing in a Northern Ireland context where human rights and equality are accorded a particular and special status (in principle if not always in practice).