Confusion at the newly created Equality and Human Rights Commission was the last thing that human rights needed.
Confusion at the newly created Equality and Human Rights Commission was the last thing that human rights needed. And yet it got it in spades: qualified accounts; the resignation of six commissioners, including the departure of a chief executive; conflicts of interest; allegations of cronyism. A recent report from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights is scathing.
The work of the commission was never going to be easy. The three existing equalities commissions approached the merger with varying levels of commitment and distrust. The integration of new equality strands—age, gender and sexual orientation—was bound to be difficult. Throwing human rights into the mix just made it worse. Bodies like JUSTICE and Liberty historically called for a separate human rights commission, precisely because of the fear that human rights would get swamped by other considerations. So it proved. The Joint Committee profess themselves to be underwhelmed by the commission’s effectiveness since its inception in October 2007.
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