Published on 18th Sep, 2025
One of the concerns about Brexit was that it would undermine the peace in Northern Ireland, and particularly the strong protections for human rights contained in the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement. Many of these were underpinned by EU law.
To address this problem the UK government agreed that it would ensure no diminution of the rights contained in the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement as a result of Brexit. This important commitment was included in Article 2 of the Windsor Framework, part of the Brexit “divorce” agreement negotiated and agreed between the EU and the UK.
The wording of Article 2 itself and the government’s own explanation of what it meant makes clear that the courts would have the power to disapply any laws which diminished Good Friday Agreement rights as a result of Brexit.
Now the UK Government appears to be trying to undo what it signed up to. It’s appealing to the Supreme Court against two judgements by the Northern Ireland High Court and the Court of Appeal which disapplied elements of the controversial Legacy Act. This legislation sought to put an end to inquests, civil actions and prosecutions relating to the NI conflict.
In the Dillon case which will be heard in the Supreme Court in October the government is now arguing that the courts do not have the power to disapply laws which diminish Good Friday Agreement rights. They are mounting this argument even though it’s at odds with the plain text wording of Article 2 of the Windsor Framework which they signed up to and the government’s explanatory document on its meaning.
If the UK government's arguments were to prevail in the Supreme Court, it would effectively render meaningless the commitment in Art 2 of the Windsor Framework to ensure no diminution of human rights protections.
The Supreme Court judgement will be significant for the protection of human rights in Northern Ireland but will not necessarily be the end of the matter. Normally the Supreme Court would have the last word but perhaps anticipating difficulties like this the agreement reached between the EU and the UK provides for international enforcement mechanisms if disputes arise about the implementation of what is agreed.
In anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling, Social Change Initiative, in partnership with the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University Belfast and the Donia Human Rights Centre at the University of Michigan, has published a new guide on Article 2 implementation. This new report explains the international dispute settlement procedure that could be used to uphold the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement’s human rights and equality commitments if the UK governments arguments prevail.
Martin O'Brien, Director at Social Change Initiative, commented:
The Supreme Court decision will be very important, but even if the UK Government’s arguments were to prevail in London, that would not necessarily be the end of the matter. There are international enforcement mechanisms available that could still hold the UK accountable for its commitments.
Previous Reports in this Series
This latest guide builds on earlier publications by SCI and its academic partners, which have tracked the evolution of Article 2 protections from their inception through to their current testing in the courts. Click below to access the previous reports:
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