COMMITTEE FOR JUSTICE
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
THURSDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2010
ROOM 29, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Lord Morrow MLA (Chairman)
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA (Deputy Chairman)
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Thomas Buchanan MLA
Mr Tom Elliott MLA
Mr Paul Givan MLA
Mr Alban Maginness MLA
Mr Conall McDevitt MLA
Mr David McNarry MLA
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín MLA
Mr John O’Dowd MLA
In Attendance:
Mrs Christine Darrah (Assembly Clerk)
Mrs Roisin Donnelly (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Mr Vincent Gribbin (Assistant Assembly Clerk)
Mr Joe Westland (Clerical Supervisor)
Mr Kevin Marks (Clerical Officer)
The meeting commenced at 2.03 p.m. in public session.
The Chairman welcomed Lord Browne of Belmont and Mr Thomas Buchanan to their first Justice Committee meeting following their appointments as members of the Committee.
The Committee noted Lord Browne’s and Mr Buchanan’s entries in the Register of Members’ Interests.
Lord Browne advised the Committee that he had resigned as a member of East Belfast District Policing Partnership and the Register of Members’ Interests would be updated accordingly.
Mr Buchanan advised the Committee that he had resigned as a member of Policing Board and the Register of Members’ Interests would be updated accordingly.
1. Apologies
There were no apologies.
2. Draft minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2010
Agreed: The Committee approved the draft minutes of the meeting of 9 September 2010.
3. Matters arising
The Committee considered a letter from the Minister of Justice enclosing correspondence from the Lord Chief Justice setting out factual background information concerning the decisions made by the judge in the McDermott Brothers case.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Minister of Justice seeking clarification of a number of issues.
Agreed: The Chairman of the Committee would meet again with the Chairman of the Health Committee to consider how the matter should be taken forward.
The Committee discussed a letter from the Department of Justice outlining the findings of the Review undertaken by the NI Courts and Tribunals Service of all current Supervision and Treatment Orders (STOs). Members expressed concern regarding the findings of the Review which indicated that an error had occurred in another STO.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Minister of Justice expressing concern at the high rate of error in relation to STOs and request information on the exact cause of the error and what is being done to review the recording of all Court decisions to identify if other errors have occurred.
4. Briefing on the CJI Follow-up Report ‘Avoidable Delay’, a thematic inspection of delay in the processing of criminal cases in Northern Ireland
Dr Michael Maguire, Chief Inspector, CJI, Brendan McGuigan, Deputy Chief Inspector, CJI and James Corrigan, Inspector, CJI joined the meeting at 2.28 p.m.
The officials briefed the Committee on the findings and recommendations of the CJI’s follow up report on avoidable delay in processing criminal justice cases in Northern Ireland. The officials answered questions from members on a range of issues including the main causes of the avoidable delay, the considerable resultant cost, oversight mechanisms, the issues surrounding the management of case files and the impact of delay on youth justice.
2.50 p.m. Mr Elliott left the meeting.
3.15 p.m. Mr Givan left the meeting.
3.22 p.m. Mr Maginness joined the meeting.
3.24 p.m. Mr McDevitt left the meeting.
The Chairman thanked the officials for the briefing and they left the meeting.
The evidence session was recorded by Hansard.
The meeting was suspended at 3.42 p.m.
The meeting resumed at 3.51 p.m. with Mr McCartney in the Chair.
Present:
Mr Raymond McCartney MLA (Deputy Chairman)
Lord Browne MLA
Mr Thomas Buchanan MLA
Mr Alban Maginness MLA
Mr Conall McDevitt MLA
Mr David McNarry MLA
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín MLA
Mr John O’Dowd MLA
5. Briefing on actions being taken in response to the findings of the CJI Report on Avoidable Delay in the Justice System
Maura Campbell, Deputy Director, Justice Development Division, Department of Justice, Will Kerr, Assistant Chief Constable, PSNI, Raymond Kitson, Senior Assistant Director, Public Prosecution Service and Mandy Kilpatrick, Head of Customer Services Group, Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service joined the meeting at 3.52 p.m.
The officials from the relevant justice agencies briefed the Committee on the actions being taken to address the findings and recommendations outlined earlier by the Chief Inspector of the Criminal Justice Inspectorate in relation to avoidable delay in processing criminal justice cases in NI. The officials answered questions from members on a range of issues including accountability, reporting on performance and target setting.
3.56 p.m. Mr Givan rejoined the meeting.
3.56 p.m. Mr Maginness left the meeting.
4.39 p.m. Mr Maginness rejoined the meeting.
4.42 p.m. Mr McNarry left the meeting.
4.47 p.m. Mr Maginness left the meeting.
The Chairman thanked the officials for the briefing and they left the meeting.
The evidence session was recorded by Hansard.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the wording of a press release to be issued calling for a substantial improvement in addressing the causes of avoidable delay.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that it wished to receive regular up-dates on progress in relation to this matter and it would write to the Department of Justice regarding the timescales for written and oral briefings. .
6. Departmental Update on Remuneration of Defence Representation in Crown Court Cases
Robert Crawford, Head of Public Legal Services Division, NICTS and John Halliday, Public Legal Services Division, NICTS joined the meeting at 4.54 p.m.
The officials briefed the Committee on the proposed publication of a draft consultation document on Remuneration of Defence Representation in Crown Court Cases and answered questions from Members on a range of issues including the timetable for the consultation, the financial impact of the proposals and the ongoing discussions with the Bar Council and the Law Society on the matter.
5.06 p.m. Ms Ní Chuilín left the meeting.
The Chairman thanked the officials for the briefing and they left the meeting.
Agreed: The Committee was content that the proposed consultation should be published and that the consultation period should last 8 weeks given that the proposals had already been discussed with the legal profession over several months.
Agreed: The Committee to seek the views of the Law Society and the Bar Council on the proposals in writing.
7. Safeguarding Board Bill
The Committee considered correspondence from the Minister of Justice in relation to the clauses in the Safeguarding Board Bill relevant to the Department of Justice.
Agreed: The Committee agreed t o write to the Health Committee welcoming the Bill and advising that it had noted the comments of the Minister of Justice and has no issues to raise in relation to the clauses relevant to the Department of Justice.
8. Chairman’s Business
- The Committee noted that arrangements had been made for the Chairman and Deputy Chairman to meet the Director of the Public Prosecution Service on Tuesday 21 September 2010 to discuss arrangements for an effective working relationship between the PPS and the Committee.
- The Committee noted that the Chairman had accepted an invitation to the Law Society Council Dinner on 24 September 2010.
9. Forward Work Programme
The Committee discussed a draft Forward Work Programme covering the period September to December 2010 and consider proposals in relation to arrangements for a number of informal meetings.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the Forward Work Programme.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that a visit to the Young Offenders Centre at Hydebank Wood should take the place of a committee meeting on 11 November 2010.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that an event should be arranged for the Committee to meet informally with a number of organisations.
10. Correspondence
- The Committee noted correspondence from the Department of Justice regarding Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunal Service Judicial Statistics.
- The Committee noted correspondence from the Department of Justice providing further information on the Legal Aid Reform Proposals.
- The Committee noted correspondence from the Department of Justice regarding inaccuracies in a Belfast TelegraphArticle on Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.
- The Committee noted correspondence from the Department of Justice outlining work being undertaken in relation to aspects of the Ministerial Sub Committee on Children’s Action Plans.
- The Committee considered correspondence from Councillor David Barbour, Chairman of the Killowen and Churchlands Community Association requesting a special security taskforce to tackle anti-social behaviour in the local area.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Chief Constable regarding the issues raised by Mr Barbour.
- The Committee considered correspondence from the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NIACRO) inviting the Committee to visit their headquarters and a requesting an opportunity to brief the Committee on the work of NIACRO.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that an informal meeting with representatives of NIACRO should be arranged.
- The Committee noted information provided by the Police Service of Northern Ireland on PSNI Hearing Loss Cases.
- The Committee noted an invitation from Amnesty International to a conference on delivering a human rights inquiry for the victims of historical institutional child abuse in Northern Ireland.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that any Member interested in attending should contact the Clerk.
- The Committee considered correspondence from Ulster Rugby Supporters Club to the Minister of Justice regarding the consultation on the Sports Law and Spectator Controls aspect of the Justice Bill.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to consider this information when considering the relevant clauses of the Justice Bill.
- The Committee noted correspondence from Action for Children to the Minister of Justice regarding the Comprehensive Spending Review.
- The Committee noted correspondence from the Committee on Procedures providing the terms of reference for its Inquiry into how the Attorney General for Northern Ireland will interact with the Assembly and a request for Department of Justice officials to give evidence to the Committee on Procedures.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward the request to the Department of Justice.
11. Any Other Business
- The Committee discussed the recently published Billy Wright Inquiry Report.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Minister of Justice requesting information on any impact/responsibility for the Department of Justice arising from the findings and recommendations of the report.
- The Committee discussed information provided that raised issues regarding the use of “Mosquito” youth dispersal devices.
Agreed: The Committee agreed to write to the Department of Justice request a briefing on the policy in relation to “Mosquito” youth dispersal devices and their use.
12. Date and Time of next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Thursday 23 September 2010 at 2.00 p.m. in the Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings.
5.49 p.m. The Chairman adjourned the meeting.
Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley MLA
Chairman, Committee for Justice
23 September 2010
9 September 10 / Menu
