Brice Dickson

Who is Brice Dickson?

Professor Brice Dickson, a barrister from Northern Ireland, is Professor of International and Comparative Law at the School of Law, Queen's University Belfast. Formerly Professor of Law at the University of Ulster, he became the first Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission on its establishment in 1999, serving two three-year terms. He left the NIHRC in March 2005 to take up his chair at Queen's.

Dickson is the author of numerous legal textbooks. He was a co-founder of the main human rights non-governmental organisation in Northern Ireland, the Committee on the Administration of Justice.

Under Dickson's leadership the NIHRC developed as the first statutory national human rights institution for Northern Ireland, replacing a former advisory commission. The NIHRC monitored human rights compliance, advised the United Kingdom government and the Northern Ireland Assembly on legislation and policy, provided legal assistance to individuals and secured recognition within the United Nations and Council of Europe human rights systems.