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Paisley non deve pagare i conti del tribunale

Paisley spared Wright court costs

Ian Paisley Jr will not have to pay the Billy Wright Inquiry’s legal bill for taking him to the High Court over his refusal to reveal a source.

Ian Paisley juniorA judge ruled on Friday that costs should not be awarded against Mr Paisley even though he lost a challenge brought by the inquiry.

Mr Justice Gillen said his decision was based on the issues of genuine public interest raised in the case.

However, he warned that the decision not to award costs was a one-off.

He said anyone who refuses to comply with future directions from public inquiries will be expected to pay for enforcement applications.

Mr Paisley was directed to disclose the name of a prison officer who told him about an alleged file destruction policy after Wright, leader of the LVF, was shot dead inside the Maze jail in December 1997.

The inquiry obtained the order against Mr Paisley in April.

The DUP representative has refused to co-operate, saying he cannot break a pledge of confidentiality given to his informant.

After obtaining the order lawyers for the inquiry made an offer for Mr Paisley to pay £12,000 plus VAT towards its legal bill.

This fixed sum was said to represent a modest contribution compared to the real costs in bringing the case. Legal sources indicated it could actually be five times as much.

But Mr Justice Gillen ruled that despite favouring the inquiry’s right to an unhindered investigation against Mr Paisley’s right to freedom of expression, this did not dilute the importance of the arguments raised.

He said: “I have therefore determined that there should be no award of costs against the applicant because of the issues of genuine public interest which have been canvassed.”

Both sides will now pick up their own bill for the proceedings.

The judge acknowledged submissions about Mr Paisley declaring he was not prepared to comply with the order, but said he could not allow this to deflect him from a fair and measured consideration of whether the case raised matters of legal and public interest.

He added: “Now that such issues have been considered and determined, those who in the future fail to comply with directions from such inquiries or this court should expect to bear the full costs of enforcement applications.”

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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