A coroner has given the police and Government a month to resolve a dispute over disclosing sensitive evidence to inquests.
The stand-off relates to a bid by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher to freeze the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) out of decisions on withholding files from inquests on the grounds of national security.
Lawyers for Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn have resisted the attempt by the PSNI, insisting the Government must retain a role in signing off applications made to coroners for information to be withheld.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn is resisting the PSNI’s attempt to exclude him from the Public Interest Immunity process (Ben WhitleyPA)
To have evidence withheld from an inquest hearing, the police must make what is known as a Public Interest Immunity (PII) application to the relevant coroner.
It has long been custom for the NIO to sign off on PII applications made by police in Northern Ireland before they are submitted to the coroner.
Mr Boutcher is seeking to end this policy, arguing that the PSNI has authority to self-certify on PII requests.
In legal submissions, the PSNI has asserted that the requirement for Government sign-off leads to delays in the process, undermines the independence of the police, and also creates “suspicion and resentment in the minds of victims and their families”.
The police further argue that chief constables elsewhere in the UK do not require ministerial sign-off on PII applications.
The NIO has opposed the proposed policy change, highlighting that the PSNI does not have primacy on national security issues in Northern Ireland – a responsibility that instead rests with the security services.
The Government claims Mr Boutcher is trying to renege on a previous agreement between the PSNI and NIO on dealing with PII issues.
While the chief constable is seeking a wider policy change, the dispute is currently being played out in the context of the inquest for former IRA man Kevin McGuigan.
The father-of-nine was shot dead in the Short Strand area of east Belfast in August 2015.
The coffin of former IRA man Kevin McGuigan is carried into a church in east Belfast for his funeral (Niall Carson/PA)
His murder prompted a political crisis at Stormont amid claims IRA members were involved in the killing.
Mr Boutcher has sought to make a PII application in the inquest without seeking ministerial sign off from the NIO.
The McGuigan family have expressed concern at the PSNI move to depart from the normal PII process.
Coroner Patrick McGurgan was asked to adjudicate on the dispute between the PSNI and NIO and at the end of last month he issued a ruling on the issue.
The coroner found that it was not a prerequisite for the PSNI to seek a ministerial sign-off and he did not have the authority to order the organisation to do so.
However, Mr McGurgan said he would prefer that a ministerial signature was secured for the PII application in the McGuigan inquest, and he urged the PSNI and Government to find an agreed way forward.
At a review hearing on Monday morning following his ruling, the coroner said it was “disappointing” that the police and NIO remained at odds over the issue.
The coroner said he needed to a find “a way through this quickly” and he expressed concern that the disclosure wrangle was “dragging on”.
“What I’m going to direct is the lawyers for both the Secretary of State and the PSNI should arrange a joint consultation and produce an agreed note on how they suggest that they will progress through the PII process,” he said.
Mr McGurgan said he wanted to secure an “agreed way forward”.
“I really want to get some movement in this matter if that’s at all possible prior to the summer recess,” he said.
“I know that might be problematical, but I will certainly try my very best.”
Dr Tony McGleenan KC, representing the NIO, insisted the “ball sits in the court of the Chief Constable”.
He said the coroner’s direction to have a joint consultation “may well be helpful”.
“We can’t forecast a certainty that there’ll be an agreement out of that, but it may well be the case that that resolves the issue,” he said.
“I stand ready to meet at a time that’s convenient to the PSNI legal team.”
Representing the police, Oliver Sanders KC, said there was clearly a “difference of understanding” between the PSNI and NIO on the outworking of the coroner’s ruling.
“We’re happy to meet with the Secretary of State’s team,” he said.
Mr McGurgan said his legal representative was willing to assist the two sides as they sought to find a resolution.
“Anything at all that I can bring to bear to assist with some sort of agreement or movement in a positive fashion for this, I’m more than happy to do so,” he added.
The coroner gave the parties until March 20 to hold a consultation and produce an agreed plan.
The next review hearing was listed for April 3.