The Sewel Convention states that if Westminster is to legislate for Scotland, it must seek the permission of the Scottish parliament first. It is somewhat different, in that the Assembly couldn't have made this decision at present but the Government has decided to legislate for Northern Ireland against the expressed wish of a majority of the Assembly.

I wont comment on the substance of the legislation in question, but if they're willing to pull a 'nanny knows best' stunt with the age of consent, no one should be under the illusion they wouldn't do it with an aberration of normality posing as a bill of rights.

If the Sewel Convention ever applied to Northern Ireland, the Government has just sought to let us know that it doesn't anymore. This throws out the window any promises the DUP made on the Irish Language Act, the protection of academic selection, anything. Mark Devenport suggests that this is nothing more sinister than a throwback to the Hain days. I wish I were so sure.

UPDATE: Seems I was wrong. Page 8 and 9 here say "This convention was adopted from the previous experience of devolution in Northern Ireland and the convention applied to the new Northern Ireland Assembly." Page 5 here states "These arrangements – Sewell, JMC – apply equally in Northern Ireland and Wales." haven't been able to find anything on the DCA website though.