THIS appendix lists all the recommendations made in the Report of the Independent Review of Parades and Marches. The recommendations are listed in the order in which they appear in the report, with a reference to their location in the report.
1. We recommend that the following fundamental principles should form the basis for the development of processes and procedures to address the issue of conflict over parades:
a) the right to peaceful free assembly should (subject to certain qualifications) be protected, b) the exercise of that right brings with it certain responsibilities in particular, those seeking to exercise that right should take account of the likely effect of doing so on their relationships with other parts of the community and be prepared to temper their approach accordingly, c) all those involved should work towards resolution of difficulties through local accommodation, d) in the exercise of their rights and responsibilities, those involved must neither commit nor condone criminal acts or offensive behaviour, e) the legislation and its application must comply with the United Kingdom's obligations under international law, and provide no encouragement for those who seek to promote disorder, f) the structure for and process of adjudication of disputes over individual parades should be clear and applied consistently with as much openness as possible, g) any procedures for handling disputes over parades and the enforcement of subsequent decisions should be proportional to the issues at stake.
Chapter 11, para 19
2. We recommend the creation of an independent body that would:
a) allow interested parties to put their views forward about proposed parades, b) encourage them to settle difficulties locally and, where that proved impossible, c) itself come to a view on what, if any, conditions should be imposed on contentious parades after an appropriately transparent process of examination of all the relevant issues against the background of reformed legal provisions.
Chapter 12, para 21
3. We recommend that the new body should have the following remit:
a) education, i.e., working for greater understanding at local level, b) promoting and facilitating mediation and the search for local accommodation in respect of contentious marches, c) if mediation fails, considering what conditions might be imposed in respect of individual parades where such conditions are merited under the statutory criteria, and, after consultation, notifying the interested parties of its conclusions d) keeping under review and amending the Code of Conduct that we shall also propose and e) arranging for contentious parades and protests to be monitored.
Chapter 12, para 29
4. We recommend that the new body should be called the Parades Commission.
Chapter 12, para 30
5. We recommend that the Parades Commission should be appointed by the Secretary of State and should consist of a chairperson and four other members.
Chapter 12, para 36
6. We recommend that the Parades Commission should contribute to the development of mediation through establishing a register of groups and individuals who can act, as mediators and itself work with other bodies in practical ways to support mediation.
Chapter 12, para 47
7. We recommend that there should be three means by which cases are brought to, the Parades Commission's attention.
a) first by the police, b) second by the Parades Commission itself, and c) third by the public, and that the Government should consider the level of public representation which should be required under (c) above, to trigger action by the Parades Commission through that route.
Chapter 12, para 61
8. We recommend that the period for the submission to the police of notice of a parade should be extended from not less than seven days to not less than 21 days.
Chapter 12, para 69
9. We recommend that the legislation should require parade organisers who give notice to the police less than 21 days before the proposed parade to state the reason why the notice was not given in time.
Chapter 12, para 70
10. We recommend that there should not be different periods of notice for different categories of parade.
Chapter 12, para 73
11. We recommend that organisers should not be required to pay a fee when submitting the notice of a planned parade.
Chapter 12, para 75
12. We recommend that the Parades Commission keeps under review the potential difficulty of significant clashes between parades and open air public meetings and makes recommendations - for the introduction of a notice regime for open air public meetings if the situation developed so as to cause concern or to interfere with the conclusions of the Parades Commission.
Chapter 12, para 81
13. We recommend that the Parades Commission addresses the issue of publication of notices of those parades which may merit wider local publicity and whether it would be right for the Parades Commission, rather than the organisers, to pay for such publication. Chapter 12, para 86
14. We recommend that:
a) the responsibility for reaching conclusions in relation to disputed parades should in future be that of the Parades Commission rather than the RUC, b) the statutory criteria for determining whether conditions should be imposed on a planned parade which are now set down in Article 4 (1) of the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 should be amended to require that, in addition to the existing criteria, consideration is given to the wider impact of the parade on the relationships within the community, c) the statutory criteria set down in Article 5 relating to the exercise of the Secretary of State's powers over parades (but not open air public meetings) should be similarly amended.
Chapter 12, para 94
15. We recommend that the Parades Commission should be empowered to reach and promulgate conclusions in relation to one or more parades in an area and to do so where appropriate over a period longer than one year.
Chapter 12, para 101
16. We recommend that the Parades Commission should have the power to review its earlier conclusions.
Chapter 12, para 102
17. We recommend that the Parades Commission takes appropriate steps to make known its conclusions in any particular case.
Chapter 12, para 103
18. We recommend that the Parades Commission should be empowered:
a) to embody its conclusions in determinations which everyone would be obliged to follow, b) in such determinations to impose conditions as wide as those which can now be imposed by the police, c) to have regard to past compliance with the Code of Conduct (which is dealt with in Chapter 13) and to prescribe conditions which must be complied with by reference to the Code.
Chapter 12, para 111
19. We recommend that legislative provision is made so that:
a) if the Chief Constable has reason to be seriously concerned about a determination of the Parades Commission ahead of a pro posed procession, he may furnish the Secretary of State with the information which gives rise to his concern, b) it would then be open to the Secretary of State to reconsider the Parades Commission's determination under the same statutory criteria as that body had applied and to issue a revised determination, c) before the Secretary of State, issued a revised determination, he should, wherever practicable, consult both with the Parades Commission and with the relevant committee of the Police Authority.
Chapter 12, para 115
20. We recommend that in the extreme circumstances of the determination of the Parades Commission being defied, the police should retain the power to intervene on public order grounds, as a parade is assembling or proceeding, as the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 currently provides.
Chapter 12, para 124
21. We recommend that a new offence should be created to penalise the conduct of individuals who set out deliberately through force of numbers or threat of disorder to contravene the legal determination of the Parades Commission, in defiance of its authority.
Chapter 12, para 126
22. We recommend that the Parades Commission should submit a publicly available annual report to the Secretary of State.
Chapter 12, para 129
23. We recommend that:
a) guidelines should be prepared setting out the factors which the Parades Commission will take in to account in determining whether a parade be made subject to conditions, b) the factors should include:
. the physical location and the route of the parade,
. the impact of the parade on the local community,
. the purpose of the parade,
. features particular to that parade,
. the approach of the interested parties to reaching a local accommodation, c) the Parades Commission should be required in the legislation to prepare and promulgate the guidelines in future, subject to the Secretary of State's approval, d) in view of the urgency, the government may wish to consider preparing draft guidelines which could be issued for public consultation ahead of the establishment of the Parades Commission.
Chapter 13, para 34
24. We recommend that one of the early tasks of the Parades Commission is to prepare public guidance on the procedures, not just that it will itself follow, but also those that are to be followed by the police and the organisers of processions, open air public meetings and protests.
Chapter 13, para 36
25. We recommend that a Code of Conduct should be introduced covering the behaviour both of participants in a parade and of protesters.
Chapter 13, para 40
26. We recommend that the Parades Commission should take ownership of the Code of Conduct, keep it under review and propose such amendments as it sees fit.
Chapter 13, para 41
27. We recommend that the Parades Commission's Code of Conduct should have an appropriate statutory basis.
Chapter 13, para 46
28. We recommend that the Parades Commission should, in respect of a parade or protest, have the power:
a) to approve an organisation's own code of conduct where it is satisfied that such a code meets the requirements of the Commission's statutory code and to require that organisation to comply with it, and b) where it is not so satisified to require the organisation to adopt and comply with the Commission's statutory code.
Chapter 13, para 48
29. We recommend that the Parades Commission should be required to address the question of monitors.
Chapter 13, para 51
30. We recommend that the Parades Commission has regard in considering any parade proposal to any evidence of previous breaches of the Commission's or of an approved Code of Conduct whether by participants or protesters. Chapter 13, para 52
31. We recommend that the Parades Commission should pay close attention to stewarding and take such steps to improve standards of stewarding in both parading and protesting organisations as it deems necessary.
Chapter 13, para 54
32. We recommend that the police apply the guidelines proposed by the Parades Commission to open air public meetings where appropriate, and that they give serious consideration to preparing a code of conduct in relation to such meetings similar to that proposed for, parades by the Parades Commission.
Chapter 13, para 55
33. We recommend that the written notice of an intention to hold a procession should be "on a prescribed form and signed by the organiser" and that Article 3 of the 1987 Order be amended accordingly.
Chapter 14, para 3
34. We recommend that, in order that the bands taking part in a parade be identified at an early stage, the words "where reasonably practicable" and "likely" be deleted from Article 3(2)(a) of the 1987 Order.
Chapter 14, para 4
35. We recommend that no substantial amendment of Article 4(1)(b) of the 1987 Order is necessary, but that the government should consider revision of the terminology of the provision.
Chapter 14, para to
36. We recommend that no change to Article 5 of the 1987 Order is necessary, other than the amendment to the statutory criteria purpose in recommendation.
14.
Chapter 14, para 15
37. We recommend that the government gives further consideration to the effectiveness of Article 7 of the 1987 Order and to any need for amendment.
Chapter 14, para 21
38. We recommend that the government should, in consultation with the appropriate authorities, give active consideration to the introduction of a registration scheme for bands.
Chapter 14, para 41
39. We recommend that it would not be appropriate to require organisers of parades to post bonds or to provide proof of insurance cover.
Chapter 14, para 45
40. We recommend that no steps be taken to seek a contribution to policing costs from parade organisers or protesters.
Chapter 14, para 49
41. We recommend that fines not be imposed by the Parades Commission for breaches of the Code of Conduct.
Chapter 14, para 52
42. We recommend that the provisions in Great Britain for control of alcohol being taken to sporting events be extended to Northern Ireland in respect of those travelling both to, parades and open air public meetings.
Chapter 14, para 55
43. We recommend that the RUC record information on parades in more detail, in particular identifying the organisation which holds the parade and the purpose of the parade.
Chapter 14, para 56