DUP wriggling, says Allister
19 November 2008
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister MEP
"I don't suppose I should be surprised by the disingenuous claim by DUP spokesman that what they have delivered on policing and justice is in fact what they always intended. If it turns out that OFMDFM is to be stripped of some of its policing and justice powers - and we'll only know that for sure when we see the amending legislation - then that is the result of TUV pressure, not DUP conviction. The facts and chronology are very simple:
• the present legislative framework (contained mostly in the 2004 Justice Act) provides upon devolution of p & j that OFMDFM would be gifted
a) the recommendation powers on who should be senior judges;
b) the right to appoint the Judicial Appointments Commission, which would appoint all other judges;
c) the right to appoint the Attorney General, who in turn appoints the head of the Prosecution Service;
d) the right to appoint the 9 "independent" members of the Policing Board.
• thus if any of the above is to change amendment to the primary legislation is necessary.
• When the Executive Review Committee met for months under the chairmanship of Jeffrey Donaldson MP, not once was even one of these issues raised or any attempt made by the DUP to strip out OFMDFM's powers over p &j.
• TUV then produced a document highlighting and exposing these OFMDFM powers.
• Nigel Dodds MP responded by saying it was DUP policy to have no p & j powers in OFMDFM.
• Yesterday (18 November) the DUP/Sinn Fein deal had some hint that things may now change (only the amending legislation will confirm the reality), particularly in regard to ceding the recommendation powers on senior judges to the Judicial Appointments Commission, which OFMDFM, it seems, will still appoint, and, today, Jeffrey Donaldson has said - though there is no such mention in any of yesterday's documents - the powers of appointment to the Policing Board will pass to the Justice Minister. If so, this still leaves OFMDFM to appoint the Attorney General, a power they have conditionally already exercised (a sure sign that an agreed timeframe exists for transferring p & j, confirmed further by internal trawling in the Civil Service for staff for the department) and appointment powers to the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Thus, it seems some policing and justice powers may be removed from OFMDFM, while others will stay and others will become arms-length. The TUV can rightly claim credit for forcing the DUP into wakening up to these issues, but we regret that they have not gone the whole way and removed every policing and justice power from McGuinness' reach. McGuinness shouldn't be permitted to appoint a court doorkeeper, never mind the Attorney General, nor those who appoint the judges.
I look forward to publication of the amending legislation to see exactly what is fact and what is fiction in the spinning of the latest attempted reconciliation of the DUP/Sinn Fein partnership. Having proven that their bully boy tactics work, one wonders how long it will be before Sinn Fein is back with a new shopping list and ever bigger trolley for the next tranche of DUP concessions.
I also must comment on the cave-in over the period that Sinn Fein can be held out of holding the Policing and Justice Ministry. A few weeks ago we were told Sinn Fein in a letter to the Review Committee had agreed to the appointment mechanism of a cross-community vote "at all times", now we find the "sunset clause" opens up the possibility of Sinn Fein control as early as 2012!"
