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The UK’s Cabinet Office and attorney general have been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging human rights violations of Northern Ireland residents due to the post-Brexit Irish Sea trading arrangements.
The class action was filed by lead Plaintiffs haulage company Blair International and DUP North Antrim MP Ian Paisley, The Canary reports.
The two allege that Northern Ireland companies have suffered violations of their economic rights and should be awarded financial damages from the government. They are seeking a declaration from the High Court in London saying that the Northern Ireland Protocol in the EU Withdrawal Act conflicts with the economic rights provided for in the UK Human Rights Act.
The EU and UK created the Northern Ireland Protocol during Brexit negotiations to stop a hard border forming on the island of Ireland by moving many regulatory and customs processes to the Irish Sea, with goods arriving into the region from Great Britain post-Brexit subjected to significant new red tape, The Canary reports.
However, some residents and businesses are claiming that the Protocol undermines Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market.
Counsel for the plaintiffs Clive Thorne said that the Northern Ireland Protocol discriminates against businesses involved in Great Britain-North Ireland trade because it stops them from operating as effectively as UK traders not involved in Irish Sea shipping.
He added that the claim states that there is no democratic mandate for the Protocol within Northern Ireland, and it was unlawful as “it conflicts with the rights under the Human Rights Act and contained in the European Convention.”
“This very much is a piece of commercial litigation, rather than political or constitutional litigation, whereby businesses in Northern Ireland, and also in Great Britain, have suffered adversity as a result of the framing of the Protocol and the way in which it has become part of United Kingdom law,” he said.
Thorne said that the next step was to find other parties to add to the class action lawsuit.
The Northern Ireland Protocol lawsuit follows a recently filed lawsuit filed by former Brexit MEP Ben Habib and Baroness Kate Hoey alleging that the Protocol is unconstitutional. The claim alleges that Protocol violates the Act of Union and the terms of the region’s historic Good Friday agreement.
Let us know your thoughts about the Northern Ireland Protocol in the comments section!
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