Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

Agency overview
Formed	1 March 1999
Jurisdiction	Northern Ireland
Headquarters	Alfred House, 19-21 Alfred Street, Belfast BT2 8ED
Employees	30
Annual budget	£1,689,887 (FY 21/22)
Agency executives	Alyson Kilpatrick, Chief Commissioner Dr David Russell, Chief Executive
Parent department	Northern Ireland Office
Key document	Northern Ireland Act 1998
Website	https://nihrc.org/

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) is a non-departmental public body funded through the Northern Ireland Office but operating independently of government as the national human rights institution (NHRI) for Northern Ireland. It came into existence on 1 March 1999, having been created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom through section 68 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, in compliance with a commitment made by the UK Government in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement of 10 April 1998. Its powers were amended by the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007.

The Commission broadly succeeded the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights (SACR), which was largely ineffective, with SACR demanding, and failing to receive new powers up until its replacement.^[1]