Goldsmith to probe NI victims appointment

Tuesday, 21 November 2006 12:00 AM

The attorney general has confirmed he will hold an inquiry into the appointment of a victim's commissioner by Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain.

Lord Goldsmith was responding to a request by a judge, who earlier this month said the appointment of Bertha McDougall as interim commissioner in 2005 was motivated by "improper political purpose".

Mr Justice Girvan said the decision was a confidence-building gesture to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and said Mr Hain had failed to take into account the lack of evidence that Ms McDougall would command cross-community support.

Her husband was murdered by republican paramilitary group the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), and there were concerns this would compromise her role as commissioner representing all victims of violence in Northern Ireland.

The appointment was challenged in court by Brenda Downes, whose husband was killed by a plastic bullet fired by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in 1984.

Mr Justice Girvan yesterday tabled 67 questions for the attorney general to consider. Lord Goldsmith will look into whether Mr Hain behaved improperly during a judicial review of Ms McDougall's appointment.

Mr Hain has denied trying to mislead the court, but welcomed the inquiry and said everyone in the Northern Ireland Office would cooperate fully with it.

"I absolutely reject any suggestion that there was a deliberate attempt to mislead the court in relation to the appointment of Bertha McDougall as interim victims' commissioner," he said.

However, shadow Northern Ireland secretary David Lidington said the judge's ruling was a "devastating indictment of the secretary of state and his advisers".

"It really is quite extraordinary for the judge to submit 67 questions for the attorney general to investigate in respect of this matter," he said.

"The issues he raises, relating to possible attempts to pervert or obstruct the course of justice, are of the most serious nature.

"The issue here is not about the suitability of the interim victims' commissioner, but of the conduct of the government in her appointment."

Tags:
• domestic policy
,
• northern ireland