Memorandum submitted by the General Committee
of the Apprentice Boys of Derry
The Apprentice Boys of Derry welcomes the decision
of the Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs to review
the Parades Commission. As you are aware from earlier correspondence,
it has been the view of the Association that the Select Committee
is the proper place for such a review. We anticipate that you
and your colleagues will take the time to properly consider the
work of the Parades Commission. The timing of your announcement
enables you to take a view through the coming months, and most
importantly over the period of the summer, to assess the Commission's
performance in the context of its objectives.
We would also very much welcome the opportunity
to meet with the Select Committee and discuss our views on the
Parades Commission. We believe that the validity of the comments
that were made in the wake of the Parades Commission's review
of itself, which resulted in amendments to the relevant Statutory
Instruments just before Parliament recessed last summer, remain
broadly relevant in principle. Our submission to the NIO's review
of the Parades Commission updates our earlier comments and summarises
key points on what we believe a review of the Parades Commission
ought to be addressing. An ABOD press statement on the NIO review
is attached for your information[4].
We are only aware of a press statement being
issued as the report following the NIO review. The generalities
of alleged ownership do not seem to have been borne out by the
subsequent reaction to the central proposition of that report.
Early introduction of human rights legislation is something to
which "everyone" is meant to have agreed, even though
the ABOD never mentioned the subject and was never asked for an
opinion on the subject.
This letter outlines issues that we feel we
might be addressed by the Select Committee's review.
BACKGROUND
The Apprentice Boys of Derry remains of the
opinion that the North Report on which the current "Parades"
Legislation is based is deeply flawed and offensive to Protestant
culture. On this basis the Parades Commission itself operates
within an environment that is deeply political and unwelcome within
our community. That being said, the Apprentice Boys of Derry has
always taken a position that it will abide by the law and respect
the legal authority of the Parades Commission.
In 1999 the Parades Commission itself undertook
a review of its Statutory Instruments, in respect of the Code
of Conduct, procedures and guidelines. The Apprentice Boys took
that opportunity to present its comments on the Commission, its
performance and the changes that it proposed in its "consultation"
document. (A copy of this submission was forwarded to the Select
Committee for your attention at the time of issue).
The comments made in that submission, in the
Spring of 1999, and in the subsequent submission to the NIO in
Autumn of 1999, relate solely to the issue within the current
legislative framework. That is the basis on which this submission
is also being made. The ABOD would wish to have a separate opportunity
to submit comment on the primary legislation if this were the
substantive framework to be placed under public or private review
at some time in the future. It is our understanding that this
is not currently up for review.
There has already been a Parades Commission review
in 1999. We believed that to be ill-advised and premature. The
NIO review six months later was unnecessary, self-serving and
ultimately superficial
The Apprentice Boys of Derry would certainly
take issue with the progress and conduct of the consultation process
of the Parades Commission review that resulted in the Government
providing necessary, and, scarce, Parliamentary time for amendments
to the legislation. At the time of the Parades Commission's review
we questioned whether, with less than one full year of operation,
it was proper to make substantial changes to the Statutory Instruments
on the basis of the Commission's very limited experience.
One of the changes made in July was to give
the Commission a more defined mission in respect to "supporting
mediation". The changes to the Procedural Rules were made
towards the end of the greater number of parades during the summer.
It seems odd, therefore, that there should now be a further review
announced by the NIO again focused on the mediation aspects of
the Parades Commission's role before the Commission has been able
to prove the validity of the changes it initiated. Odder still
that mediation barely ranked a mention in the outcome of the NIO
review.
The Apprentice Boys of Derry believe that an unstable
legislative and regulatory framework is unhelpful
A legal framework that is under constant threat
of review is only likely to create conditions for further obstacles
in the path of genuine efforts towards resolution of local issues.
Uncertainty means that continuity and carefully moulded building
blocks could all too easily be undermined by political activity
that plays to wider audiences that have no useful part to play
in resolution or accommodation in local situations.
The role of mediation sits uneasily with its remit
as a quasi-judicial body
The Apprentice Boys of Derry has difficulty
in the remit of the Parades Commission having been changed to
strengthen its role of mediation. While there may be circumstances
that this role may arise, for whatever reason, it should not be
a primary role. There is no single way to resolve issues that
arise in respect of parades. Our experience is that every single
circumstance is unique to the local area and people involved.
The Apprentice Boys' experience in Londonderry is very different
to Apprentice Boys' experience in Belfast, or elsewhere.
The public opinion polls that were so conveniently
used by the Parades Commission to push the cause of dialogue before
the summer also showed the lack of credibility of the Commission
in its determinations. Being both poacher and gamekeeper is a
difficult act to sustain and it is certain to cause problems,
impacting adversely on one role or the other. It is the role of
adjudicator that seems to be the one that it can most easily fulfil
given the Commission's lack of exposure to local circumstances.
Mediation, and the choice of mediator, should be a matter on which
the parties should agree. Our experience is that either local
links, or objective individuals who are respected by both parties,
serve as the best channels for discourse, and that there is often
not the obvious and not the direct tone of communication that
some would first expect.
While a determination is binding in law it must
be seen to be fairly upheld
While a number of legal cases are pending or
are in due process with respect to Apprentice Boys parades in
Londonderry and Belfast during the summer, none have yet been
concluded, nine months after the events. This creates an air of
mistrust in due process and a sense that political factors are
at play.
It makes it harder for the leadership of the
Apprentice Boys to say "abide by the law" when the law
seems to be so ineffective, even reluctant, in its pursuit of
bringing to court and expediting cases speedily and properly.
It also puts into question the strength behind the determination
of other legal authorities to support the work of the Parades
Commission.
The words and terms of the Statutory Instruments
are too vague
The Apprentice Boys believes that many of the
words and terms in the Parades Commission remit are too vague
to carry unequivocal meaning and therefore are difficult to follow,
or to be followed, as they remain open to interpretation. Again
this results in a lack of clarity that breeds various interpretations
and leads to everyone and no-one being able to state with confidence
where they stand in respect to the law.
IN SUMMARY
At the risk of repetition, I cannot better phrase
our own position than by using the form of words that concluded
our 26 February submission[5].
To the ABOD the reviews of the Parades Commission are missing
the central point, that the forces behind the antagonism towards
the Loyal Orders are not capable of being addressed by the Parades
Commission or any quango. "(The parades issue) can only be
resolved when the people of goodwill in an area are given the
moral support of Government in the face of violence. In Londonderry
this includes the need to ensure the cancer of petty crime and
disorder is dealt with on a day to day basis (by all communities).
While the Parades Commission can do little to improve matters,
our own experience show that it has an inherent capacity to make
matters worse". This last point is particularly relevant
to the contribution of the Authorised Officers of the Parades
Commission.
The Apprentice Boys of Derry will not use this
opportunity to ponder on whether there should or should not be
a Parades Commission, is it or is it not properly constituted,
is the legislation right or wrong? What we can say is that whether
a Parades Commission exists or not, the core issues will remain
for some time. The Apprentice Boys will continue to constructively
and positively address these issues as we did before the Parades
Commission and as we will do so whether or not the Commission
exists, or in whatever shape or form the Parades Commission might
take if it survives.
I hope our comments and points are given some
attention in this review. Whatever the best intentions there is
always the possibility that changes in an already unstable environment
can result in things being made very much worse. It has been suggested
in recent days that politicians might be part of the solution.
The Apprentice Boys believes that it has been the hijacking of
the "parades issue" into a wider political arena that
has caused a deepening of divisions in our society. Whatever options
are considered in the future, placing politicians on the Parades
Commission is not an option that the Apprentice Boys would at
all welcome.
The Apprentice Boys believes that continuity
and certainty are the most valuable contributions that a legislative
and regulatory environment provides. That has neither been shown
in the outcomes of the previous reviews, in the conduct of the
previous Parades Commission, or in the recent appointments to
the Parades Commission.
22 April 2000
PRESS INFORMATION:
13 MARCH 2000
Alistair Simpson, Governor, Apprentice Boys
of Derry, comments on the recent review of the Parades Commission
by the NIO:
Alistair Simpson states: "A second review
within less than six months of changes to Statutory Instruments
that guide the Parades Commission seems odd. A review by faceless
individuals, and a report that amounts to no more than a few bullet
points on the end of a press release, hardly lends credibility
to the supposed outcomes of civil service diligence. The "all
sides" and "everyone" of the release inappropriately
seeks to include the ABOD as sharing the views of the Report's
outcome".
"The Apprentice Boys of Derry continues
to believe that the only credible review of the Parades Commission
is through a Parliamentary enquiry. As a purportedly independent
body, the Parades Commission is accountable only to Parliament.
At the time of the Parades Commission's self-analytical, and internalised,
review last Spring the ABOD stated its belief that the Northern
Ireland Select Committee was the proper, and only credible, forum
for a review of the Parades Commission. The Apprentice Boys of
Derry remains of that view".
NOTES
The Apprentice Boys of Derry made a submission
to the review of the Parades Commission by the NIO. These focused
on a number of key points. These were, in summary:
— The Apprentice Boys of Derry remains
of the opinion that the North Report on which the current "Parades"
legislation is based is deeply flawed and offensive to Protestant
culture. On this basis the Parades Commission itself operates
within an environment that is deeply political and unwelcome within
our community. That being said, the Apprentice Boys of Derry has
always taken the position that it will abide by the law and respect
the legal authority of the Parades Commission.
— There had already been a Parades
Commission review in 1999. The ABOD believed that the first was
ill-advised and premature. The Statutory Instruments were amended
in August 1999 the purpose of amending the role with respect to
mediation—apparently a key factor behind the announcement
of the need for a further review in October. The Apprentice Boys
believes that an unstable legislative and regulatory framework
is only likely to create further obstacles to purposeful resolution
of local issues.
— That the role of mediation (expanded
upon in August 1999 through amendment to Statutory Instruments)
sits uneasily with the Parades Commission's remit as a quasi-judicial
body. The words and terms of the Statutory Instrument remain vague
and lack the clarity to enable anyone to state with confidence
where they stand with respect to the law, relying only on the
interpretation of the Commission.
— The submission concluded: "Whatever
the best intentions there is always the possibility that changes
in an already unstable environment can result in things being
made very much worse . . . The Apprentice Boys repeats that continuity
and certainty are the most valuable contribution that any regulatory
framework must provide".
4 Ev p 53. Back
5
Evidence not reported. Back
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