Is the Criminal Justice Review a done deal?
BY NED KELLY
With the media spotlight and public attention firmly focused on the Patten
Commission on policing, the consultation process for the Criminal Justice
Review has gone largely unheralded.
While the Patten public meetings in nationalist communities generated
intense and emotive debate, there have been only 40 submissions to the
justice review and the deadline was 28 May. As a central commitment in the
Good Friday Agreement, the review has the potential to deliver major
changes to a criminal justice system that is chronically open to political
abuse and has been used systematically against nationalists over the years
- so why the silence?
At a seminar organised by the Falls Community Council (FCC) in West Belfast
last week some of the answers emerged.
The justice review, unlike the Patten Commission, is not independent. It is
being conducted by NIO civil servants, `independent' assessors and by
insiders from the criminal justice system - the very people responsible for
implementing the past and present abuses. It is dominated by people who see
themselves as professionals.
The consultation process is being described as a failure and Morrow
Communications responsible for organising the consultation have shown
themselves to be out of touch with people on the ground. For the recent 6
May criminal justice review event in the Balmoral Conference Centre, two
members of staff from the FCC were only notified of the event the day
before. When they turned up to the event it became apparent that
representation from community groups was severely lacking. Patricia
McCartney, one of the FCC representatives, described those present as
having no understanding of the issues that directly affected people on the
ground within nationalist communities - the people against whom the
criminal justice system was used.
Ciaran Kearney, the FCC representative at the meeting, said: ``It raises
serious questions about the inclusiveness and accessibility of this
consultation process when representatives of many organisations, campaigns,
and individuals from the nationalist community were not notified about an
event that was organised to hear the views of the public.''
Asked the FCC: ``Will the appointment of judges be addressed? Will the way
prosecutions have been handled in the past be examined? Will prosecutions
be taken out of the hands of the RUC? Will there be a new inquest system,
which for too long has been the only avenue left to the victims and
survivors of state violence? What about the emergency powers, the abuse of
Public interest immunity certificates (PIICs), the Diplock courts - all
outside the remit of the criminal justice review? Will these be examined?''
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)