Designing Bills of Rights in Contested Contexts: Reflections on the Northern Ireland Experience

This article addresses a specific question around bills of rights: How are these instruments drafted? Drawing upon the findings of research projects funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT), the article examines the Northern Ireland experience, a place where the process is ongoing. In particular, conceptual and practical matters involved in drafting bills of rights in post-conflict societies are explored. The article suggests that Northern Ireland merits consideration when reflecting on models for the facilitation of public participation in constitutional projects such as this. What happened to the debate on a bill of rights there also raises hard questions about how to design an effective process in the context of ethno-national division. This article contributes to discussions on human rights reform in deeply divided societies by examining the Northern Ireland experience.