Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs Written Evidence


APPENDIX 5

Memorandum submitted by the Northern Ireland Office

INTRODUCTION

  1.  The Committee requested, in preparation for its inquiry into the Parades Commission and the Public Processions Act 1998, a memorandum from the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) on the parades issue.

Background

  2.  The Independent Review of Parades and Marches 1997 (the North Review) was established in August 1996 to review arrangements for handling public processions and open-air public meetings and associated public order issues in Northern Ireland. The review took place against the backdrop of the serious disputes which had arisen over a number of parades, including those at Drumcree, Newtownbutler and the Ormeau Road in Belfast, and which had resulted in widespread public disorder and the exacerbation of community tensions. Policing this disorder had placed significant demands on police and army resources (for example, policing Drumcree alone cost an estimated £22.5 million over the three years 1997-2000):[1] but the costs were not, of course, only financial—the economic, social, human and political impact was also significant.

  3.  The North Report made 43 recommendations, the principal one being the establishment of a third-party mechanism to reach conclusions in relation to disputed parades. This took the form of the Parades Commission, which would operate independently of the Government and the police. The Government accepted and implemented the main North recommendations.

Operation of the Parades Commission

  4.  The Public Processions (NI) Act 1998 established the Parades Commission and set out its statutory functions. These are to promote and facilitate mediation, and to make determinations on contentious marches. In making determinations, the Commission has to take into account a number of specified factors that go beyond public order alone and address the effect on the wider community.

  5.  The Commission has pursued its statutory duty to promote and facilitate mediation as a means of resolving disputes, working with those on both sides of the disagreement. An internal NIO review carried out in 1999 concluded that the Commission's duty to encourage local agreement wherever possible had contributed greatly to the improved atmosphere in the previous two marching seasons.[2] It also recommended that the Commission do more to heighten awareness of mediation, including its own network of local authorised officers. The Commission has taken that work forward; its Annual Report for 2002-03 comments, "The work of the authorised Officers has really matured during the year to the extent that their ability to work on the ground in difficult areas and to provide valuable insights to the Commission on the state of community relations and the prospects for progress has assumed ever-increasing importance."[3]

  6.  The level of disorder associated with parades has gradually reduced. The marching season of 2003 has been the quietest in recent years; parades have mainly passed off peacefully with only minor incidents occurring at a small number of locations. In each of the past three years, disorder occurred at less than 1% of parades.[4] The number of contentious parades has steadily decreased, as the following table demonstrates.[5]


Number of parades
notified
Number of contentious
parades
Number upon which route
restriction placed
[6]

April 98-March 99
3,211
203
119
April 99-March 00
3,403
297
152
April 00-March 01
3,440
235
130
April 01-March 02
3,301
220
152
April 02-March 03
3,280
191
137

QUIGLEY REPORT

  7.  The commitment to carry out the "Quigley review" emerged from the Weston Park talks. The relevant extract from the Governments' joint statement of 1 August 2001 is as follows:

    In order to help create greater consensus on the parades issue and a less contentious environment in which the new police service will operate, the British Government will review the operation of the Parades Commission and the legislation under which it was established. The Government believes the Parades Commission has had four successful years of operation against a difficult background. But this review, which will take place in consultation with the parties and others with an interest including the Irish Government, will consider whether there are any changes which could promote further public confidence on all sides, respect for the rights of all and the peaceful resolution of disputes on parades. Any legislative changes would take effect after summer 2002.

  8.  Sir George Quigley, who was appointed to carry out the review, submitted his report to the Secretary of State on 27 September 2002.[7] The Government is very grateful to him for the work he has done. He suggested a number of changes to the way in which parades would be regulated. His proposals were, in summary, that two new bodies—the Parades Facilitation Agency and the Rights Panel for Parades and Protests—should replace the Parades Commission. Where disputes over parades arose, the protagonists would first try to reach agreement, using the Facilitation Agency to mediate as necessary. If no agreement was reached, the dispute would pass to the Rights Panel, who would balance the right of freedom of peaceful assembly against the rights and freedoms of others and issue a Determination. The police would then decide if any further restrictions should be placed on the parade on public order grounds. The main features of the proposed system are summarised at Annex A.

  9.  The report was issued for public consultation on 7 November 2002. Representations were made to the Government that, due to the complexity of Sir George's report and the radical nature of some of his proposals, many organisations would benefit from extra time to come to a clear view on his recommendations. The Secretary of State therefore decided to allow an extended period of public consultation, concluding at the end of April 2003. Further representations were made requesting an additional extension, which the Secretary of State agreed to consider. To date there have been 30 responses to the public consultation exercise, though some key stakeholder groups have yet to submit their views. The Government believes it would be inappropriate to make decisions on the way forward without those views. It looks forward also to hearing the views of the Committee.

CURRENT POSITION

  10.  In considering the proposals put forward by Sir George, a key consideration for the Government will be the extent to which any change to current arrangements would contribute to an improvement in the situation surrounding parades. Amongst the issues that arise are:

(a)  Local accommodation, Mediation and Rights

  The Government believes that the best outcome in relation to any contentious parade is local agreement reached through dialogue, understanding, negotiation and compromise. In this regard it notes the continuing efforts of the Commission (including the developing role of its authorised officers), and of community leaders, to resolve issues at a local level. Its view remains that the ECHR rights engaged in the parades issue are not absolute; that competing rights need to be balanced; and the rights of all are best enjoyed in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance and respect. One area for discussion in considering the kind of model suggested by Sir George, therefore, is how efforts to reach a solution through mediation and a rights-based approach would mesh together, and in particular whether the proposed determination process (particularly were it to develop an adversarial or legalistic character), would help or hinder the prospects for successful mediation.

(b)  Transparency of Procedures

  Transparency can contribute to securing public confidence. The Government recognises that difficult decisions have to be made in balancing the desire to make procedures as open as possible with the need to ensure the confidentiality of the advice and information submitted to the Commission. The Commission is already aware of the issues involved and is striving to bring greater transparency into its methods.[8] Another issue for discussion is how best this might be done, either as part of existing arrangements or within the Quigley model.

(c)  The role of the police in the decision-making process

  Prior to the establishment of the Parades Commission the police made the decision on whether or not a parade should go ahead as proposed, based on public order criteria. They frequently, therefore, found themselves placed in the invidious position of deciding what restrictions needed to be placed on a parade and then policing it. The establishment of the Parades Commission, and the passing of the decision-making function to it, meant that the police could focus solely on ensuring the maintenance of public order at the parade. Sir George suggests that the Rights Panel, in considering whether any restriction should be placed on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, should take into account those factors impacting on the rights of others, and on the risk to public health or morals, but that responsibility for decisions on any restrictions to be imposed in the interests of national security or the prevention of disorder or crime should revert to the police. A key assessment for the Government, as part of its overall consideration, will be the extent to which any new arrangements would assist the police in their task of protecting public safety and upholding the law.

(d)  Ensuring that determinations take into account all relevant factors

  In the absence of local agreement, there must be a mechanism for resolving disputes. Currently, the Parades Commission carries out that function by issuing determinations. The Commission's most recent Annual Report sets out Common Principles, which describe in a general way the approach taken by the Commission. The Principles include factors such as positive efforts to reach agreement made by both parade organisers and residents' groups; the conduct of the parade; and the threat of public disorder, which is not automatically the only or overriding factor. Through taking a wide range of factors into consideration, the Commission believes it is able to come to a view that is based on all the relevant evidence. The extent to which revised arrangements would permit all the relevant factors to be considered in a coherent and holistic way is another key issue to be addressed.

IMPLEMENTATION

  11.  The Government has not yet reached a view on the Quigley recommendations. It is not yet possible, therefore, to determine what legislative or administrative provision would have to be made to implement any changes.

CONCLUSION

  12.  The situation regarding parades has greatly improved since the widespread public disorder witnessed in the late 1990s, though there is much still to be done. The Government believes that the Parades Commission's efforts to encourage local accommodation wherever possible has played an important role. Nevertheless the Commission recognises the need to review continuously its practices and structures to ensure that these continue to meet the needs of those with whom it works; its Annual Report for 2002-03, for example, outlines the efforts it is making to make its procedures as transparent as possible and address the issue of human rights. The Government will wish to consider carefully whether more radical change at this point would be helpful in achieving greater consensus around parades. It looks forward to receiving the Committee's views on the issue, once its deliberations have been completed.

13 October 2003



1   Paragraph 62 of the Second Report from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, The Parades Commission, Session 2000-01, printed 28 March 2001. Back

2   Paragraphs 69-71 of the Second Report from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, The Parades Commission, Session 2000-01, printed 28 March 2001. Back

3   Source: 5th Annual Report, 2002-03, laid in Parliament 8 September 2003. Back

4   Source: PSNI website. Back

5   Source: Parades Commission Annual Reports. Back

6   In each year, approximately one third of parades subject to route restrictions relate to Drumcree. Back

7   The full report may be downloaded from the NIO website, www.nio.gov.uk. Back

8   See Annual Report 2002-03, page 8. Back


 
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