LEGAL EXPERTS WARNING ON CASE
Legal experts' warning on case
By JOHN HUNTER
THE Government's decision to contribute �800,000 to help the Omagh victims' families sue suspects in the RIRA atrocity could scupper their hopes of bringing the case to court, local lawyers have warned.
Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, claims top legal support in providing government finance, but experienced Belfast lawyers warned yesterday of potential pitfalls.
They warned that the Government's unprecedented involvement in a civil case may be seen as going beyond its powers, if it was found that the authorities were using the civil courts as a substitute for a criminal prosecution.
This might form the basis for a claim by the defendants' lawyers that the Omagh payment was unconstitutional, and should not stand.
Should this happen, win or lose, a series of further costly and time-consuming appeals, proceeding finally to the House of Lords, might follow, before the Omagh Victims case even gets into court.
In the longer term, if the final ruling went against the defendants, an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is likely.
Court evidence to secure a criminal conviction must be "beyond all reasonable doubt", which the police have been unable to obtain.
In contrast, victory in a civil case for compensation relies on "the balance of probabilities", a considerably lower evidential standard.
This opened the way for the Omagh families to mount their �10m compensation claim.
But government intervention might be seen as unlawfully converting the case into a "back-door prosecution".
Among the Belfast lawyers who - want to see the Omagh case succeed, there is also unease about the Northern Ireland Secretary's remarks on the availability of legal aid to the five Omagh suspects.
He revealed he had asked the Law Society to review the decision to grant the defendants legal aid, declaring that he understood the "sense of public outrage that the defendants in the Omagh civil case are to receive legal aid".
"That kind of politician's remark, in relation to a upcoming court case, makes me very uneasy," said one criminal lawyer yesterday
By JOHN HUNTER
THE Government's decision to contribute �800,000 to help the Omagh victims' families sue suspects in the RIRA atrocity could scupper their hopes of bringing the case to court, local lawyers have warned.
Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, claims top legal support in providing government finance, but experienced Belfast lawyers warned yesterday of potential pitfalls.
They warned that the Government's unprecedented involvement in a civil case may be seen as going beyond its powers, if it was found that the authorities were using the civil courts as a substitute for a criminal prosecution.
This might form the basis for a claim by the defendants' lawyers that the Omagh payment was unconstitutional, and should not stand.
Should this happen, win or lose, a series of further costly and time-consuming appeals, proceeding finally to the House of Lords, might follow, before the Omagh Victims case even gets into court.
In the longer term, if the final ruling went against the defendants, an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is likely.
Court evidence to secure a criminal conviction must be "beyond all reasonable doubt", which the police have been unable to obtain.
In contrast, victory in a civil case for compensation relies on "the balance of probabilities", a considerably lower evidential standard.
This opened the way for the Omagh families to mount their �10m compensation claim.
But government intervention might be seen as unlawfully converting the case into a "back-door prosecution".
Among the Belfast lawyers who - want to see the Omagh case succeed, there is also unease about the Northern Ireland Secretary's remarks on the availability of legal aid to the five Omagh suspects.
He revealed he had asked the Law Society to review the decision to grant the defendants legal aid, declaring that he understood the "sense of public outrage that the defendants in the Omagh civil case are to receive legal aid".
"That kind of politician's remark, in relation to a upcoming court case, makes me very uneasy," said one criminal lawyer yesterday
Further Information
Publisher: SUNDAY LIFE
Ref: SL/156
Published Date: 10-Aug-03
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