Justice – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

So where do we stand on the “Cohesion, Sharing and Integration” strategy?

Pete Baker on July 13, 2010, 6:11 pm

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Now that the Northern Ireland First and deputy First Ministers have broken cover to condemn the recent violence it’s worth noting that although ACC Alistair Finlay hadn’t heard from them before today, he had heard from a junior minister in their office. As Eamonn noted earlier [Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly] “Let me say this about ACC Finlay. In his own way he should stay out of politics. If he wants to talk to the First and deputy First ministers all he has …

NI Attorney General: ‘gap in the system introduced by the devolution of justice’

Pete Baker on July 1, 2010, 10:21 pm

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Northern Ireland’s new Attorney General, John Larkin, was giving evidence to the Assembly’s Justice Committee today. And, as the BBC notes, he repeated his concerns about his lack of oversight powers over the Public Prosecution Service. Last month, Mr Larkin said he might not have all the powers he needed. Unlike his direct rule predecessor, he will not have any powers of supervision over the Public Prosecution Service. Mr Larkin told the committee that in contrast to the position before 11 April, …

High Court rejects Arthurs’ challenge to non-jury trial ruling

Pete Baker on June 30, 2010, 5:38 pm

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I noted in May the start of “prominent Co Tyrone republican” Brian Arthurs’ legal challenge to the ruling that he should stand trial in a non-jury court, on charges of converting criminal property and obtaining a money transfer by deception. The original case against Arthurs collapsed in August 2008 when the judge ruled that the Public Prosecution Service had failed to provide any evidence to the court. The BBC reports today that the High Court has rejected Brian Arthurs’ legal challenge The …

Two convicted in Real IRA arms plot trial

Pete Baker on June 30, 2010, 5:08 pm

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As reported here. 35 security service agents applied for anonymity before the start of the trial. Previously, the judge ruled that a third defendant had been entrapped by MI5. From the BBC report The judge described the Security Services’ operation as an “elaborate and successful” hoax. The trial was the first for 20 years in which MI5 agents gave evidence in a Belfast court. McCaugherty showed no emotion and occasionally yawned as Mr Justice Hart, sitting in a Diplock, no-jury court, …

“verdict against Galileo was rational and just…”

Pete Baker on June 27, 2010, 11:00 pm

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Galileo Galilei didn’t invent the telescope. But he was convicted of heresy by the Catholic Church. I’ve mentioned his trial before. And Pope Benedict XVI’s argument that the “verdict against Gaileo was rational and just, and revisionism can be legitimized solely for motives of political opportunism.” [Adds As tierney comments below, I should have noted that Benedict is quoting the philosopher P Feyerabend] Today Will Crawley noted the arguments of a Fr Ernan McMullin On today’s Sunday Sequence, Fr Ernan McMullin, …

“Is it not the primary duty of states, for all their imperfections, to provide external protection and internal security for their citizens?”

Pete Baker on June 11, 2010, 8:36 pm

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A good attempt by the Guardian’s Michael White to look beyond the publication of the Saville Inquiry report and to ask, with some historical context, what happens next So Bloody Sunday needs to be placed in context, hard though it must be for those whose lives were utterly changed by it and have found it impossible to move on without first obtaining redress. Should prosecutions be launched 30 years after the event? If viable evidence can be mustered from the …

Good riddance to Sir Alasdair…

Belfast Gonzo on June 11, 2010, 2:36 pm

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AND so farewell to Sir Alasdair Fraser, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, who is to retire in September. Conveniently, this will mean that he won’t have to take any tough decisions over prosecutions after the Saville Report is published. Sir Alasdair has been criticised in the past for failing to account for his decisions and he never defined what the “public interest” was when that became his only way of making them. This satisfied neither unionist, nationalist …

New NI Attorney General Sworn In

Pete Baker on June 9, 2010, 10:43 pm

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As the BBC notes, Northern Ireland’s new Attorney General John Larkin was sworn in at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast today. After taking the oath, Mr Larkin pledged his full backing for the independence of barristers. “I intend to support our independent bar to the best of my ability,” he said. “What I do want to do here is to declare my firm view that an independent bar is a strong and protective force in and for the …

Court of Appeal upholds Administration of Justice (Language) Act of 1737

Pete Baker on June 2, 2010, 12:33 pm

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As the BBC notes the Court of Appeal has rejected a legal action claiming that the Administration of Justice (Language) Act of 1737, which specifies that all proceedings in NI courts must be in English, was discriminatory and breached the European Convention on Human Rights. And UTV has extensive quotes from the ruling Lord Justice Girvan ruled: “Conferring on individual litigants a right at their option to convert court forms from English into a language not understood by the vast majority of …

Dirty protest endangers prison staff…

Eamonn Mallie on May 27, 2010, 12:07 am

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There is genuine fear in government circles that another ‘dirty protest’ involving dissident republicans in Maghaberry Prison could lead to attacks on prison officers and prison staff. Twenty seven inmates in Roe House wrecked their cells in the past weeks as they continue to demand more freedom of movement and an end to strip searching. Prisoners are searched before and after visits and sometimes randomly at the week-end. Only three prisoners in Roe House are allowed to congregate on a …

New NI Attorney General Appointed, Queries Missing Powers

Pete Baker on May 24, 2010, 8:14 pm

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Nominated as the new Northern Ireland Attorney General in November 2008, John Larkin was finally appointed today. UTV has his initial “grateful” comments. But the BBC notes that he’s already noticed that something’s missing… Unlike his direct rule predecessor, Mr Larkin will not have any powers of supervision over the Public Prosecution Service. “It’s something that should be urgently looked at I think,” Mr Larkin said. “The decisions about unduly lenient sentences, about other forms of statutory obligation, which were taken by the attorney …

Alliance a ‘legitimate target’?

Blank on May 12, 2010, 10:13 pm

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Moving from an oppositional role in the Assembly to taking on the role of Justice Minister ran political risks for the Alliance Party. At the time I flippantly noted David Ford had put himself in the firing line in more way than one. However, his and Alliance’s responsibility for the conditions of Republican prisoners has come to the fore as a decent sized crowd made their way to APNI HQ for a protest on their attitude to prisoner rights –something …

Crilly trial over Nairac murder to proceed

Pete Baker on May 7, 2010, 5:25 pm

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The BBC notes that Belfast Crown Court judge Mr Justice Hart has thrown out an application by Kevin Crilly’s lawyers that he had no case to answer over the murder of Captain Robert Nairac in 1977. From the BBC report Mr Crilly, from Lower Faughill Road, Jonesborough will formally be arraigned before the Crown Court next week. He is to be charged with the soldier’s murder along with two counts of false imprisonment and two charges of kidnapping. Six men have already been …

“There had to be a suspension of critical faculties”

Lee Reynolds on October 7, 2007, 4:58 pm

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New research has shown the depth of US anger with the British and Irish governments handling of the peace process on the issues of criminality and recognition for policing (Hat tip Nevin). US officials believe that they played the more significant role in SF moving on these issues and thus achieveing a deal acceptable to the DUP. Unsurprisingly it was the 911 attacks that led to the first shift in attitudes towards the republican movement but the Northern Bank robbery …

An unhappy anniversary

Miss Fitz on December 19, 2006, 3:26 am

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Well, it’ll be two years on Wednesday since the Northern Bank heist. In the Sunday Tribune, Suzanne Breen gives a very detailed and explicit account of the robbers, the robbery and the divvying up of the dosh. There probably isn’t much new in what she writes, but I was a bit surprised at how confident she feels in alluding to the alleged bank robber. The Irish Examiner throws a little something new into the mix. They quote Justice Minister Michael …