Summary of Judgment - In re Daithi McKay and Jamie Bryson
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Neutral Citation | Summary of Judgment - In re Daithi McKay and Jamie Bryson |
| Court | Court of Judicature (NI) |
| Date | 26 November 2021 |
Judicial Communications Office
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26 November 2021
COURT DISMISSES APPLICATION MADE BY DAITHÍ McKAY
AND JAMIE BRYSON
Summary of Judgment
The Divisional Court
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today refused an application made by Daithí McKay and Jamie Bryson by way
of judicial review to quash the decision to commit them for trial on indictment in relation to a charge
of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.
Factual Background
The applicants, Daithí McKay and Jamie Bryson, sought judicial review of their committal on 5
March 2021 for trial on indictment in relation to the charge of conspiracy to commit misconduct in
public office. A third person, Thomas O’Hara, was also committed for trial on the same charge. He
did not bring a judicial review but was a notice party to these proceedings.
The grounds upon which the applicants sought judicial review were:
That the committal was procedurally unfair;
That there was no evidence upon which the District Judge could have committed for trial in
relation to the elements of the specific offence; and
That committal for this offence was in breach of Article 7 and Article 10 of the European
Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”).
The arraignment of the three accused was listed for a date in April 2021 before the Crown Court but
was held in abeyance pending these judicial review proceedings. A certificate for hearing before a
judge alone rather than jury was issued and that decision is under separate legal challenge.
The prosecution arose out of events relating to the working of the Committee for Finance and
Personnel (CFP) of the Northern Ireland Assembly in September 2015. At that time Mr McKay was a
Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and Chair of the Committee. The CFP conducted a
review of the sale of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) property loan portfolio in
Northern Ireland. This sale had become controversial with allegations that there was corruption in
the sale and it was a matter of public interest. The National Crime Agency (NCA) was undertaking a
parallel investigation into the NAMA process. The court said this was clearly in the mind of the CFP
in constructing terms of reference for its inquiry given the risk of inadvertently prejudicing the
criminal investigation by the NCA. The terms of reference stated that the CFP should undertake a
fact finding review in relation to the operations of NAMA in Northern Ireland including the Project
Eagle sale and related policy and regulatory issues that fell within the Department of Finance and
Personnel remit. Key objectives would include establishing the factual position as regards the
relationship between the Department and NAMA, the NAMA Northern Ireland Advisory
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The panel was the Lady Chief Justice, Dame Siobhan Keegan, Lord Justice Treacy and Lord Justice M aguire.
The Lady Chief Justice delivered the judgment of the court.
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