Ms Doireann Ansbro:

I can answer. On the UN convention, this is actually a novel treaty in international human rights law because for the first time it introduces this right to truth that we have been hearing about all day, into an actual treaty.

We talked about the transitional justice framework and its rights to effective investigations, truth, justice and reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence but what is interesting about this treaty is that it incorporates those obligations within itself as a legal obligation. That is the key difference.

With regard to the sealing of the documents, our understanding is that the Bill provides that all documents and records will be sealed for 30 years on the dissolution of an agency. That is problematic and inconsistent with the right to truth because, as we keep coming back to it, the right to information and the right to truth are absolutely fundamental. We need to be able to access the documents. We also need transparency. Transparency is a key principle in human rights. We need transparency in all of our responses to this issue. We talked a little bit about appeals and oversight in the earlier session with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. In addition to the right to appeal decisions and that kind of thing, transparency on how decisions are made is crucial. If we end up sealing these documents, an issue might emerge after the dissolution of the agency that requires access to the kind of information that would be sealed for 30 years under this legislation. It is, therefore, inconsistent with the right to information and truth and should be removed.