McGuinness's (Deborah) Application (No.4) (Leave stage) and Department of Justice for Northern Ireland and The Parole Commissioners for Northern Ireland and Michael Stone
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Colton J |
| Judgment Date | 19 November 2021 |
| Neutral Citation | [2021] NIQB 102 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 19 November 2021 |
Neutral Citation No: [2021] NIQB 102
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: COL11660
ICOS No: 2021/7325/01
Delivered: 19/11/2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
(JUDICIAL REVIEW)
___________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY DEBORAH McGUINNESS (No. 4) FOR
LEAVE TO APPLY FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW
and
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
and
THE PAROLE COMMISSIONERS FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
Proposed Respondents
and
MICHAEL STONE
Notice Party
___________
Mr Ronan Lavery QC with Mr Michael O’Brien (instructed by McIvor Farrell
Solicitors)
for the Applicant
Ms Neasa Murnaghan QC with Mr Philip McAteer and Mr Terence McCleave
(instructed by the Departmental Solicitor’s Office) for the Department of Justice
Mr Donal Sayers QC with Ms Denise Kiley (instructed by Carson McDowell
Solicitors) for the Parole Commissioners
Mr Hugh Southey QC with Mr Richard McConkey (instructed by McConnell Kelly
Solicitors) for the Notice Party
___________
COLTON J
Introduction
[1] As is evident from the title this application for leave is the fourth in a series of
challenges brought by the applicant challenging various decisions relating to the release
from prison of Michael Stone, the Notice Party, a notorious murderer.
[2] This application encompasses a previous application known as McGuinness No. 2
and is in effect a consolidated application.
Background
[3] The applicant is the sister of Thomas McErlean who was murdered on 16 March
1988 at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast. On that day, the funeral was being held for three
men who had been killed in controversial circumstances in Gibraltar. Mr McErlean had
attended the funeral and was also in attendance at the burial when those present were
subject to an attack by Michael Stone with firearms and grenades. Mr McErlean was one
of three victims who died during the attack. On 3 March 1989 Mr Stone was subsequently
convicted of Mr McErlean’s and two other victims’ murders. He was also convicted of
three other troubles related murders of which he made a voluntary confession to police.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
[4] Mr Stone was released on 24 July 2000 under licence as part of the Early Release
Scheme provided for under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and the Northern
Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998.
[5] Mr Stone was subsequently arrested on 24 November 2006 after an attack at the
Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast. On 14 November 2008 he was convicted of
attempted murder arising out of this attack and on 8 December 2008 he was sentenced to
serve 16 years in custody. On 29 July 2013, the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
determined that the tariff in respect of the life sentence imposed on 3 March 1989 should
be 30 years’ imprisonment.
[6] From November 2018 onwards the applicant has been involved in a number of legal
challenges related to decisions made about the potential release of Michael Stone from
prison on licence. Part of that litigation involved a dispute about when he would first
become eligible for release. Following hearings at Divisional Court level, Supreme Court
level and ultimately by the Court of Appeal in this jurisdiction it was determined that Mr
Stone was eligible to apply for release from 21 March 2018. The applicant has sought leave
to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
[7] Prior to the Court of Appeal decision Mr Stone’s case was referred to the Parole
Commissioners for Northern Ireland (“the Commissioners”) on 18 July 2018 under Article
6 of the Life Sentences (Northern Ireland) Order 2001. The matter was delayed pending
the outcome of the applicant’s challenge to Mr Stone’s release date. Following the decision
of the Court of Appeal Mr Stone pursued the application for release from prison before
the Commissioners. On 25 January 2021 the Commissioners directed the release of Mr
Stone under the provisions of the Life Sentences (Northern Ireland) Order 2001.
Re Applicant’s Challenge
[8] The applicant raises three broad issues in this challenge.
[9] The first relates to the Commissioners’ decision not to provide the applicant with
information about Mr Stone’s application for release.
[10] The second relates to the decision by the Commissioners to conduct Mr Stone’s
hearing in private and not permit her to attend and to participate in the hearing.
[11] The third is a challenge to the actual decision by the Commissioners to release Mr
Stone on licence.
The Parole Commissioners’ Rules
[12] The first two issues in effect amount to a challenge to rule 22 of the Parole
Commissioners (Northern Ireland) Rules 2009. The Rules were made pursuant to the
powers conferred by Article 100 and paragraph 4 of Schedule 4 of the Criminal Justice
(Northern Ireland) Order 2008.
[13] Paragraph 4(1) and (2) of Schedule 4 provide as follows:
“4.—(1) The Department of Justice may make rules with respect to
the proceedings of the Commissioners.
(2) In particular rules may include provision—
(a) for the allocation of proceedings to panels of Commissioners;
(b) for the taking of specified decisions by a single Commissioner;
(c) conferring functions on the Chief Commissioner or deputy
Chief Commissioner;
(d) about evidence and information, including provision—
(i) requiring the Commissioners to send to
the Department of Justice copies of such documents as
the rules may specify;
(ii) requiring the Department of Justice to provide
specified information to the Commissioners;
(iii) for the giving of evidence by or on behalf of
the Department of Justice, the Police Service of
Northern Ireland and others;
(iv) about the way in which information or evidence is to
be given;
(v) for evidence or information about a prisoner not to be
disclosed to anyone other than a Commissioner if
the Department of Justice certifies that the evidence or
information satisfies conditions specified in the rules;
(vi) preventing a person from calling any witness without
leave of the Commissioners;
(e) for proceedings to be held in private except where the
Commissioners direct otherwise;
(f) preventing a person who is serving a sentence of
imprisonment or detention from representing or acting on
behalf of a prisoner;
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