Court rules halt in UDA funding was illegal
The courts in Belfast have ruled that the Minister for Social Development acted illegally in halting funds for a project intended to support the UDA’s political development.
The minister had stopped the project’s funding in protest at the UDA’s involvement in crime and rioting.
It was hugely popular with the public as the UDA at the time was involved in intimidation and rioting.
However, there were doubts about the legality of her move and today the courts quashed her ruling.
Mr Justice Morgan said she had not consulted the project’s organisers on a decision which had inevitably resulted in job losses.
He also ruled she had taken irrelevant considerations into account, namely the failure of the UDA to make a start to decommissioning.
She had also, it said, come to her decision without the agreement of the Executive and had acted outside the ministerial code.
