The Law Society of Northern Ireland has received an international award for defending a solicitor against comments made by Ian Paisley Jr during the Legacy Bill debate in the House of Commons last year.
During the debate in July 2023, Mr Paisley used parliamentary privilege to describe a “legal practitioner” as a “shameful snake-oil salesman”.
The comments were understood to refer to Gavin Booth, a solicitor who represents the family of Colum Marks.
Colum Marks, a 29-year-old IRA man, was fatally wounded in disputed circumstances in 1991.
Mr Paisley made the comments in the Commons after the family of Colum Marks sought a review into the Public Prosecution Service’s decision not to prosecute Officer B, a former RUC man who was involved in the incident.
At the time, the Law Society called for attacks on lawyers made in relation to the controversial Legacy Bill to stop.
“Solicitors provide vital support to victims and survivors of the Troubles to access truth and justice and should not come under attack for doing their jobs,” they said in a statement.
They were awarded the Special Mention of the Jury ‘Bar of the Year’ at this year’s Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights awards for defending Mr Booth, a partner and solicitor at Phoenix Law.
The Special Mention has been awarded each year since 2016 to a bar “which has distinguished itself for its commitment to the service of the independence of lawyers, its exemplary fight for the rule of law and for the suffering endured in the service of human rights”.
