Committee on the Administration of Justice

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The Committee on the Administration of Justice (often known by the acronym CAJ) is Northern Ireland's leading non-governmental human rights organisation. In 1998, CAJ was awarded Council of Europe's prestigious Human Rights Prize, joining a distinguished list of honorees, including the International Commission of Jurists, the Medical Section of Amnesty International, Lech Wałęsa, Raoul Wallenberg, and Médecins sans Frontières.

1 Establishment and Purpose
2 Political Independence
3 Awards
4 External links

[edit] Establishment and Purpose

The Committee was founded in 1981 as a human rights watchdog, which seeks to ensure that the UK government complies with its responsibilities in international human rights law with respect to Northern Ireland. In furtherance of this aim, CAJ relates closely to other human rights organisations internationally and makes regular submissions to a number of United Nations and European bodies established to protect human rights. CAJ is a member of the British and Irish Panel of the International Federation of Human Rights, along with Liberty (pressure group), the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Scottish Human Rights Centre.

[edit] Political Independence

Though the constitutional status of Northern Ireland is a deeply controversial matter in the eyes of many, CAJ is careful to take no view, draws its membership from across the whole community in Northern Ireland, and is firmly opposed to the use of political violence.