Fifty-five solicitors and barristers have told the North's Police Ombudsman they have had difficulties in dealings with police officers. Some of the allegations are of a serious nature.
A survey carried out by Ms Nuala O'Loan's office and published today found that the vast majority of the 1,458 respondents had no criticisms to make about the police service. However among the 55 who did, there were allegations ranging from direct physical threats or threats of arrest to accusations that solicitors were members of illegal organisations.
There were also allegations that lawyers had endured defamation, sectarian abuse and unprofessional conduct during interviews with clients.
The research was carried out in 2001 and 2002 and involved surveying the North's 2,834 lawyers and barristers on their experiences in dealing with the PSNI and its predecessor, the RUC.
Just over 96 per cent said they had had no problems, but 3.8 per cent claimed they had experienced difficulties.
Most of the difficulties complained of allegedly took place before the establishment of the Police Ombudsman's Office and most of those who complained did not do anything about it.
Many told Ms O'Loan they felt nothing would be done about it if they had complained.
Ms O'Loan said: "The numbers and types of allegations reported in this survey do not paint a picture of widespread mistreatment of lawyers by police officers."
She was not playing down the seriousness of the allegations. "The allegations which were made must be a matter of concern." She continued: "Respondents to the survey thought that the establishment of my office was a positive step and a number of those who took part in later interviews said that this was proving to be the case."
She commended the PSNI for its introduction of new rules for officers in their dealings with lawyers. "The PSNI has introduced a new force which sets out very clearly the standard of conduct that is expected of officers in their dealings with lawyers, while the newly introduced code of ethics requires that in all situations, officers must discharge their duties with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality, while upholding fundamental human rights."