Vol. 531 No. 1
151 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he will introduce legislation incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into law; his views on whether it will have retrospective application to the date of its incorporation in Northern Ireland, due to section 6 of the Belfast Agreement which has been incorporated into the Constitution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5045/01]
I expect that the draft legislation to provide for the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the manner decided by the Government, will be published during the present parliamentary session.
There is no requirement, constitutional or otherwise, which provides that the legislation in this jurisdiction should have the same commencement date as the UK Human Rights Act, 1998 which came fully into effect in Northern Ireland on 2 October 2000.
