In the matter of an application by the Committee on the Administration of Justice and Martin O'Brien for Judicial Review
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Kerr LCJ |
| Judgment Date | 18 March 2005 |
| Neutral Citation | [2005] NIQB 25 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 18 March 2005 |
| Year | 2005 |
1
Neutral Citation No. [2005] NIQB 25 Ref:
KERF5235
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
18/03/2005
(subject to editorial corrections)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION (JUDICIAL REVIEW)
________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE AND MARTIN O’BRIEN FOR
JUDICIAL REVIEW
________
KERR LCJ
Introduction
[1] The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) is an independent
non-governmental organisation. Its purpose is to secure the highest
standards in the administration of justice in Northern Ireland and, to that end,
it works with domestic and international human rights groups. At the time
that these proceedings were launched, Martin O’Brien was its director.
[2] On 15 March 1999, Rosemary Nelson, a well-known solicitor and a
member of the executive committee of CAJ, was murdered when a bomb that
had been attached to her car exploded. A loyalist paramilitary group, the Red
Hand Commandos, claimed that they had carried out this atrocity. Following
her murder Mr O’Brien lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman’s
office concerning the failure of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (the RUC) to
properly investigate threats made against Mrs Nelson before she was
murdered.
[3] Mrs Nuala O’Loan is the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. In the
course of her investigation into the complaint she provided certain
information to CAJ about the progress of her inquiries. This prompted a
request from CAJ that she disclose to them certain material relevant to the
investigation into Ms Nelson’s murder. CAJ also asked the Chief Constable to
provide certain material. Both the Ombudsman and the Chief Constable
refused to provide the material sought. By these judicial review proceedings
the applicants challenge that refusal.
2
Background
[4] On 10 August 1998 Paul Mageean, legal officer with CAJ, wrote to Adam
Ingram, MP, a minister of state in the Northern Ireland Office, enclosing two
documents, in one of which explicit threats to the life of Ms Nelson were
made. The other document referred to her in a sinister fashion. Mr Mageean
suggested that these documents constituted very definite threats to the
personal safety of Ms Nelson. He called on Mr Ingram to investigate these
threats and to provide the necessary protection for Ms Nelson. A letter from
the minister’s private secretary, dated 24 September 1998, in response to Mr
Mageean’s letter stated that the documents had been passed immediately to
the Chief Constable’s office for investigation. It also mentioned a scheme run
by the Northern Ireland Office by which security measures could be installed
in homes at public expense and gave information as to how Ms Nelson might
apply for inclusion in the scheme.
[5] The documents enclosed with Mr Mageean’s letter were not the first
threats that Ms Nelson had received. These had begun after she started to
represent clients detained in police holding centres in Northern Ireland. Her
case was investigated by the United Nations special rapporteur on the
independence of judges and lawyers when he visited Northern Ireland in
1997. In a draft of his report, the special rapporteur referred specifically to
Rosemary Nelson as one of a number of lawyers who had complained of
police harassment and threats. It is suggested that her name was removed at
the suggestion of the Chief Constable on the basis that her safety could not be
guaranteed if she was named in the report. On 29 September 1998 Ms Nelson
gave evidence to a subcommittee of the United States Congress about threats
to her and her family.
[6] On 22 March 1999 two detective officers of the RUC called at the offices of
CAJ asking for the originals of the documents that had been enclosed with Mr
Mageean’s letter of 10 August 1998. They explained that they wished to have
the documents tested for fingerprint and DNA traces. On 29 March 1999,
Colin Port, the deputy Chief Constable of Norfolk was appointed by Sir
Ronnie Flanagan, the Chief Constable of the RUC to take charge of the
investigation into Ms Nelson’s death.
[7] At a meeting in April 1999 of the Police Authority for Northern Ireland, Sir
Ronnie Flanagan was asked whether Ms Nelson had requested or whether
she had been offered security protection. According to the minutes of the
meeting, Sir Ronnie replied that Ms Nelson had not sought security advice
and that, prior to her death, the RUC did not have information to suggest that
she was the subject of a specific terrorist threat. When CAJ became aware of
this statement they challenged the Chief Constable publicly as to its accuracy.
This led to a newspaper article in the Irish Times on 27 May 1999 in which
CAJ was quoted as having expressed disbelief at the Chief Constable’s
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