The Minister for Justice is seeking High Court permission to provide the Omagh bombing inquiry with Special Criminal Court (SCC) judgments and sentencing remarks related to individuals “associated with dissident terrorism”.
A total of 29 people, including a mother pregnant with twins, died and hundreds were injured when a car bomb planted by the Real IRA - a dissident paramilitary group that split from the Provisional IRA in 1997 - exploded in the centre of the Co Tyrone town on August 15th, 1998.
An independent inquiry into the bombing opened in Omagh in January. Over four weeks of hearings bereaved family members delivered pen portraits of victims of the bomb. The inquiry, which is due to resume in June, is examining whether the atrocity could have been prevented by UK authorities.
In a sworn statement to the High Court, Department of Justice official Anne Barry said the inquiry last November wrote to the department seeking assistance accessing 20 specific judgments and sentencing remarks of the SCC, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court “relating to various individuals associated with dissident terrorism in or about 1997/1998″.
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The inquiry also wrote directly to the SCC with a view to obtaining relevant judgments and transcripts, but was advised an application to the High Court was required, Ms Barry said.
The application, which came before the President of the High Court, Mr Justice David Barniville, on Wednesday, arises from the Government’s commitment to assisting the inquiry.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the registrars of the Special Criminal Court are listed as respondents in the application.
Paul Carroll SC, for the Minister, told the court a potential issue arising was the need to put individuals subject to the judgments on notice of the application. He said there was also a possibility of prejudice arising from the release of the documents.
Mr Carroll said judgments and sentencing remarks were normally delivered in open court and in public. He argued this negated the need to put individuals on notice. He said a number of the individuals were now dead.
He said there should be no issue if it was confirmed that the materials sought were delivered in open court in the “normal manner”.
Mr Justice Barniville said he “provisionally” agreed with Mr Carroll. He noted judgments and sentencing remarks differed to other materials, such as the contents of a book of evidence, which may not be opened in court.
The judge granted a two-week adjournment. This allows time for the DPP to consider her position on the issue. He said the application was important and would be given priority.
Mr Carroll said the SCC was neutral on the application. He noted that court said it did not have jurisdiction to order transcripts.
The Government is expected to agree to a memorandum of understanding with the Omagh bombing inquiry, established by the UK Government, in the coming weeks.
This week, the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion calling on the Government to hold its own inquiry into the bombing. It was brought to the assembly by several Ulster Unionist Party MLAs.
Dublin has said it will co-operate fully with the UK government’s inquiry, but has stopped short of committing to a separate public inquiry.
