JUN-23-1977 15:24 FROM LCHR DC ΤΟ 2257485 P. 07 and international law. An independent, fair-minded and impartial judiciary — and a clear public perception of those qualities -- are key components for Northern Ireland to move beyond civil strife, and towards the creation of a more pluralistic and inclusive society. The legal setting in Northern Ireland all but ordains that defense lawyers suffer intimidation. Together the EPA and PTA encourage the security forces to rely on custodia! interrogation as the primary means of obtaining convictions. Practices and conditions within the detention centers facilitate this incentive. The overall approach the law establishes makes legal counsel more crucial and therefore more often subject to police hostility. Far from checking this hostility, the law encourages it, often in dangerous ways. Complaints procedures, which might provide a measure of redress, remain ineffectual, prompting the skepticism solicitors accord the complaints process and contributing to their tenuous position in the system itself. No event came to symbolize the hazards faced by Northern Ireland's defense lawyers more than the murder of Patrick Finucane. A leading defense and civil rights solicitor, Finucane was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in circumstances that suggested that elements of the security forces colluded in the killing. Despite this information suggesting official collusion, the Northern Ireland Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) chose not to prosecute despite promising publicly disclosed lead in the case. The Royal Ulster Constabulary's (RUC) own investigation into Finucane's death remains incomplete. To date, none of the government inquiries relating to the Finucane case have been made public. In its 1995 report, the Lawyers Committee summarized the case, noting, "unhappily, not only has there been no independent public inquiry, there has been no tangible progress in publicly identifying Finucane's killers, much less bringing them to justice." The Lawyers Committee and other human rights groups have called for an independent and public judicial inquiry into Patrick Finucane's murder. An inquiry now would put suspicions of official collusion to rest and provide a key showing of good faith on behalf of the UK government. Among the Lawyers Committee's concerns about the failure of the UK government to prevent the intimidation of lawyers are these: continued threats made by interrogators to detainees with the purpose of interfering with the attorney client relationship and interfering with the accused's choice of counsel; failure of the Independent Commission for the Holding Centers to address the problem of threats against solicitors occurring in detention centers; 1See Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, At the Crossroads: Human Rights and the Northern Ireland Peace Process, supra at 107. JUN-23-1997 15:25 FROM LCHR DC ΤΟ 2257485 P.08 failure on the part of UK authorities to provide an effective means of investigating threats against solicitors; section 47 of the EPA, permitting police to prevent any person detained under emergency provisions from seeing a solicitor for up to 48 hours after initial arrest, and then for subsequent 48 hour periods until charge or release: inability of detainees to access legal advice during interrogation; delays by UK authorities in the installation of video cameras in detention centers for purposes of record interrogations, and its refusal to permit audio recordings. failure of the UK to provide an effective means of investigating complaints of police harassment and abuse. So long as the emergency laws remain on the books they provide a basis for the harassment of defense counsel. As an initial matter, this holds true even for provisions that do not apply to lawyers directly. Such general provisions include measures ensuring prolonged detention, easy admissibility of confessions and the effective elimination of the right to silence. The result is a system that gives the security forces every incentive to rely on confessions obtained in custody and, in turn, to impede solicitors who are often the only significant hurdle to safeguard against improper convictions. Far from eliminating these incentives, the government has demonstrated its resolve to keep them in place for the foreseeable future. We urge Congress, the Clinton Administration and this subcommittee to press its concerns about human rights in Northern Ireland with Senator Mitchell. Specifically, we urge you to convey to the President the importance of raising these issues, as confidence building measures, in the context of the Northern Ireland peace talks: The right to trial by jury should be reinstated for all inhabitants of Northern The right to silence should be reinstated. Neither judges nor juries should be permitted to draw adverse inferences at trial from a defendant's failure to respond to police questioning. The power to intern suspects without trial should be removed in Northern Ireland. JUN-23-1997 15:25 FROM LCHR DC B. The power to issue exclusion orders should be eliminated, in accordance with The Judiciary The government of the United Kingdom should conduct a new inquiry into the The government of the United Kingdom should undertake measures to ensure that the composition of the judiciary broadly reflects the traditions and attitudes of the community at large. The process of appointing judges should be made more transparent and accountable to the public. The Judicial Studies Board for Northern Ireland should be expanded, and should implement training programs on international human rights standards and minority relations. The Northern Ireland judiciary should be encouraged and accorded the resources to meet and consult with judges from other jurisdictions, particularly those facing social transformation. Judges should take every opportunity to demonstrate publicly their commitment to the principles of a transparent and independent judiciary, as a means of overcoming perceptions of the legal order in Northern Ireland. An independent public inquiry should be held into the murder of Patrick Finucane. The RUC should make a public statement regarding the status of its investigation into the Finucane murder. The UK authorities should require vigorous and independent investigation of all threats to legal counsel in Northern Ireland. Solicitors who report threats of violence should be accorded effective protection. The Independent Commissioner for the Holding Centres should investigate all The right to immediate access to counsel of choice should be respected. Detainees should have access to such legal advice during interrogation. Detainees should have regular, constant and confidential access to their solicitors. 4. All interrogations should be audio and videotaped. Solicitors representing For as long as the detention centers continue to function, the Lay Visitor Scheme should be extended to them. Complaints Procedure The government should implement the recommendations made by Maurice Hayes to establish an independent ombudsman to investigate police complaints. The Law Society should establish formal public complaints procedures for alleging official harassment or threats. JUN-24-97 MON 07:24 AM BEST) WESTERN SKYLINE IN Prepared Statement to House Committee on International Relations Hearing on Human Rights in Northern Ireland Tuesday 24 June 1997 by Stephen Livingstone Co-Director University of Nottingham Human Rights Law Centre* fax 44-115-9515696 e-mail stephen.livingstone@nottingham.ac.uk *This statement is made in my personal capacity and should not |