The planned Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland is an opportunity for all and a threat to none, the SDLP said today as it made its response to proposals published last year by the Human Rights Commission.
Mr Alex Attwood, the SDLP chairman and justice spokesman, said a Bill of Rights could become "one of the most positive and widely owned aspects of the Agreement for all of the citizens and communities of the north".
He said a Bill provided the opportunity to agree standards of protection that could replace disagreement over rights in the past with a new order of rights for all in the future.
"It can provide a basis of stability and security that can allow communities to rebuild relationships," he said.
He warned, however, that the British government must not adopt a "minimalist" approach to the proposed Bill.
"If the laws of the British parliament legislate across economic, social and cultural issues for the particular circumstances of the North, then all of those circumstances should be reflected in the Bill of Rights."
However Sinn Féin said the proposed Bill "fails the Good Friday Agreement test" and was unacceptable.
Human Rights spokesman Mr Pat McNamee said they welcomed many aspects of the Commission's proposals and acknowledged progress had been clearly made in relation to democratic rights, social and economic rights and the rights of children.
But he claimed basic human rights were not negotiable. "It appears that the Commission believes that it can draft a Bill of Rights acceptable to the British government, or those within unionism who are opposed to change without regard to those who have actually suffered from institutional discrimination for decades.
The term of office of the Human Rights Commission expires next month, when members will have to be reappointed or new members nominated.
It was hoped the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights, which is the commission's biggest task since being set up in March 1999, would be ready for publication by then.
The proposed bill was criticised by senior Ulster Unionists last September when chief commissioner Prof Brice Dickson published the proposals, which cover almost all aspects of life in Northern Ireland.