Sinn Féin MLA Linda Dillon has slammed the British Government’s Judicial Review and Courts Bill, which seeks to restrict access to judicial reviews for citizens. 

The party’s Justice Spokesperson said:

“Judicial Reviews are a crucial tool for holding government decisions to account and safeguarding the principles of fairness and accountability.

“They have been critical to seeing progress on a wide range of important issues in the north, such as compensation for victims of historical institutional abuse, the Victims Pension and the Irish language.

“Today’s proposals to limit access to judicial reviews are yet another example of this Tory government undermining the rule of law.

“It is the latest in what is fast becoming an alarmingly long list of legislation which is designed to recuse the Government from accountability and make themselves and their decisions untouchable.

“No amount of Government spin can change the fact that, just like their legacy proposals to hide its role in the conflict, they are determined to remove access to justice for citizens and put themselves above the law.

“The Law Society in the north have previously warned that any erosion of the judicial review process would have a “particularly stark impact” in the north, and that the unique circumstances of the north must be recognised.

“These proposals have been widely condemned by human rights organisations and the legal profession, and they must be resisted.”