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The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 1998 & European Convention on Human Rights: Explainer

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Colin MurrayORCiD

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This is the final published version of a report that has been published in its final definitive form by Committee on the Administration of Justice, 2025.

For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.

Abstract

This explainer sets out why the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is inseparable from the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (B/GFA). Contrary to recent claims, the UK cannot withdraw from the ECHR without undermining its international commitments under the Agreement. The report traces the ECHR’s central role in the B/GFA’s rights protections, examines how treaty law secures these obligations, and shows why alternative “equivalent” arrangements cannot meet the Agreement’s requirements. It also highlights how post-Brexit treaties, including the Windsor Framework, reinforce the UK’s duty to maintain rights protections in Northern Ireland. The conclusion is clear: withdrawal from the ECHR would breach the B/GFA, destabilise Northern Ireland’s constitutional settlement, and jeopardise hard-won peace.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Murray C, O'Donoghue A

Publication type: Report

Publication status: Published

Series Title:

Year: 2025

Print publication date: 16/09/2025

Online publication date: 14/09/2025

Acceptance date: 31/08/2025

Institution: Committee on the Administration of Justice

URL: https://caj.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GFA-ECHR-Explainer-Report.pdf

ePrints DOI: 10.57711/0dc3-xq83

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