NIO ‘interfered’ in Ombudsman role
The Northern Ireland Office has described the Police Ombudsman’s appointment as “fully compliant” with the relevant codes of practice after a report issued by a human rights organisation claimed it had interfered in the process.
The report by the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) – which was released on Thursday – revealed how two senior figures applied for the post, but missed out to former Canadian Mountie Al Hutchinson in 2007.
Mick Beyers, Policing Programme Officer at CAJ, said they had uncovered “a range of irregularities” in relation to the process used to appoint the current Police Ombudsman, overseen by the Northern Ireland Office.
The human rights group believes this had “a significant impact on the independence of and interference in the Office of the Police Ombudsman.”
However, the NIO has rejected the claim.
An NIO spokesperson said: “The competition to appoint the Police Ombudsman in 2007 was fully compliant with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) Code of Practice. An OCPA Representative was involved at each stage of the process and signed a certificate confirming it was fully compliant. We will look at the Report and the allegations made.”
CAJ are now questioning if the police watchdog’s work on historical cases is “fit for purpose.”
The committee began the investigation process into the effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and independence of the police watchdog last summer, following growing unease among families, victims, legal representatives and human rights groups.
It also raised concerns regarding the length of time the Office was taking to carry out its investigations and how they have dealt with collusion.
Mr Beyers said: “The research has raised serious concerns in relation to the failure of the Office to define and apply the term ‘collusion’ in a consistent manner across all investigations and a failure to hold the police to account in relation to historic cases.”
In a statement the Ombudsman’s Office said it was clear that the report “does not include a balanced view of the issues surrounding the investigation of historical matters, nor reflect the structural changes implemented to allow the Office to deal with the doubling of historic cases in the past three years.”
It said it welcomed the discussion on collusion by human rights group.
The CAJ has made eight recommendations which it says need to be implemented if the Ombudsman’s office is to discharge its obligation under the European Convention on Human Rights.
