Human rights doubts

The government will 'not be pressured' into committing itself on whether to set up a human rights commission for England and Wales, the Lord Chancellor said this week.Giving evidence to the parliamentary joint committee on human rights, Lord Irvine refused to commit himself or the government to supporting that establishment of a commission similar to one established last year in Scotland.

NorthernIreland was the first to have one.He said: 'Simply saying "me too" is not a reason for setting up such a commission in this country.

I want a full exploration of the issues - and the case must be properly argued.'Lord Irvine added that the human rights system in England and Wales should be given time to 'bed down' after the introduction of the Human Rights Act in October 2000.He also pointed to the 'large number' of non-governmental equality rights organisations, such as the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission, all of whom 'do a cracking job at implementing human rights'.'Many people think we have too many such organisations already and are sceptical about the need for one over-arching commission,' he said.

He suggested that such a commission could work alongside the other bodies with some overlap, absorb these bodies, or have an 'umbrella structure', with the existing bodies continuing to operate under its co-ordination.Victoria MacCallum