Justice Minister Naomi Long has insisted she has made no decision on whether to appeal a High Court judgment that struck down provisions of a law granting anonymity to sex offence suspects for 25 years after their death.
But Mrs Long confirmed she has written to her Executive colleagues to ask for their opinion and make them aware of the “constitutional consequences” arising out of the judgment, laying down a deadline of 5pm on Tuesday.
The minister told the assembly the central issue was not the actual provisions but the impact on the ability to take legislative decision and the work of the departments.
She also suggested it could open the door in the future to more challenges to legislation passed by the assembly.
Any appeal, Mrs Long said, would centre on the wider constitutional impact of the court ruling.
She said the judgment of the court “risks undermining the effectiveness of the Assembly” as it questioned the process of legislative scrutiny.
Mr Justice Humphreys found certain sections of the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 are “not law” and failed to strike a fair balance between suspects rights to privacy and press freedom.
He said the provisions were incompatible with press rights to freedom of expression protected by Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Irish News and other media organisations challenged the provisions that would have meant being unable to name offenders such as Jimmy Savile or Malachy Finegan until 25 years after their deaths.
Prior to being struck down, it also made it a criminal offence to name such individuals for a quarter of century post-death bar a successful application challenging anonymity.
This, the judge added, has the “chilling effect” of imposing a criminal sanction on public interest journalism.
Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole, the SDLP MLA, filed an urgent oral question after it emerged Mrs Long had sent a letter to other ministers asking for their opinion on whether to lodge an appeal.
Mr O’Toole questioned the timing of the move just ahead of the election in which the minister is standing in East Belfast.
He also asked Mrs Long whether or not she supports post-death anonymity for alleged sex offenders.
Mrs Long replied that the judge did not “find that post death anonymity was inappropriate”, rather there was “inadequate opportunity” within the law allowed too challenge the anonymity of the alleged offender during their lifetime.
Sinn Fein’s Deirdre Hargey told the assembly her party was opposed to Mrs Long moving ahead with an appeal, while Mrs Long was also asked about the costs, which she said have not “significant” so far.
There is no timeline to fix the “defective clauses”, the assembly heard. The minister, acknowledging she may no longer be in the Stormont executive if she wins the Westminster vote in East Belfast, said the assembly may decide to make changes to the struck down provisions or do nothing.
DUP leader and the incumbent in East Belfast Gavin Robinson earlier said his party will not support a decision to appeal the ruling.
