Application by Christopher Donaldson for leave to apply for Judicial Review
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Weatherup J |
| Judgment Date | 04 April 2008 |
| Neutral Citation | [2008] NIQB 42 |
| Date | 04 April 2008 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Year | 2008 |
1
Neutral Citation no. [2008] NIQB 42 Ref: WEAH4835.T
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
Delivered: 04/04/2008
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION (JUDICIAL REVIEW)
____________
AN APPLICATION BY CHRISTOPHER DONALDSON
FOR LEAVE TO APPLY FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW
____________
WEATHERUP J
[1] This is an application for leave to apply for judicial review of two decisions of
the prison authorities. The first concerns the policy of the Prison Service directing
prisoners not to wear Easter lilies outside the cells in the segregated wing at HMP
Maghaberry and the second concerns disciplinary charges being preferred against
the applicant for refusing to remove an Easter lily that he was wearing on
Easter Sunday 23 March 2008. Mr Hutton appeared for the applicant and Mr
Dunlop appeared for the respondent.
[2] The background, as appears from the applicant’s solicitor’s affidavit, is that he
is a sentenced prisoner in the republican segregated wing in Roe House HMP
Maghaberry. He has been in custody since June 2004 and is serving a twelve-year
sentence and is due for release on 2 June 2010. He is housed in segregated
conditions, which means that in practice republican prisoners are housed together
and have no contact with any prisoners who are not republicans. It appears that on
Easter Sunday the applicant was returning from the exercise yard with an Easter lily
affixed to his outer clothing. He was ordered by a prison officer to remove this
emblem and he refused. Later he was charged with disobeying a lawful order.
[3] This issue has been addressed by the Court on two previous occasions. First,
in Byers Application [2004] NIJB 252, the application was made by a prisoner who
was housed in integrated conditions within the prison. The judgment in essence
dealt with two grounds for judicial review. One was that the policy in relation to the
wearing of this emblem represented an undue interference with the applicant’s right
to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention and the other
that the policy was discriminatory in that it unjustifiably differentiated between the
wearing of Easter lilies, which was prohibited, and the wearing of poppies, which
was permitted. The policy of the Prison Service was stated to be that certain
emblems are permitted, such as poppies or shamrock, although they are primarily
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Kielan Allen v Northern Ireland Prison Service
...[33] A further notable formulation of principle is found in the decision of the Divisional Court in Re McAfee’s Application [2008] NIQB 42, per Kerr LCJ at [15]: “The purpose of section 26 is to ensure that periods of pre-trial custody can be taken into account in reducing the sentence of t......