Allister gets more information on Super Injunctions
24 June 2011
TUV Leader Jim Allister, who earlier established through Assembly Questions that 4 Super Injunctions had been granted in Northern Ireland since 2007, has now had it confirmed that two of them have since been discharged. Of the remaining two no further official information is available.
The two now discharged were granted on 21 January 2009 and 16 April 2010 respectively.
Commenting Jim Allister said, “Such injunctive relief is liable to review and once the exigency which was thought to warrant it passes, then, it can and should be lifted. Since by their very nature such orders do not sit comfortably with the transparency expectations of modern society, it is, I believe, in the public interest that information about the quantum and lifting of super injunctions should be known. Elsewhere some ‘beneficiaries’ of such injunctive relief have contributed to the public knowledge and those in Northern Ireland who availed of such orders in January 2009 and April 2010 could of their own volition now do likewise.”
The latest Assembly Question asked and Answer received from the Department of Justice are as follows:-
To ask the Minister of Justice, pursuant to AQW 257/11, the date on which each of the four orders prohibiting publicity on the granting of injunctive relief was made; and whether each order is still extant.
Answer:
Two of the four orders prohibiting publicity on the granting of injunctive relief, which have been made since 2007, remain extant. The two orders now discharged were made on the 21 January 2009 and 16 April 2010. Further information in respect of the extant orders cannot be provided without risking contravening the terms of the order.
