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17/01/2011
Taser Ruling Welcomed By DUP Man
Northern Ireland Policing Board member Jonathan Bell has welcomed the outcome of a judicial review judgement on the police usage of Tasers.
Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan dismissed an application to stop their introduction and also refused to grant an order to overturn decisions of the NI Policing Board to support the Chief Constable over their deployment.
The challenge was brought by a Belfast girl whose grandmother was killed by a police plastic bullet in the 1980s and lawyers for the child, who was not identified, argued that a proper equality impact assessment was not carried out, and that use of Tasers breached the "right to life and right to freedom from torture".
That's even though former PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde received NI Policing Board endorsement in 2008 to bring in the weapons as long as they are only used by authorised and specially trained officers.
Welcoming the dismissal by Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, the Strangford MLA said: "A minor applied to quash the decision of the Board supporting the Chief Constable's proposal to introduce Tasers.
"Additionally the application was to quash the decision that the deployment of Tasers was solely an operational matter for the Chief Constable.
"I welcome the fact that today this application was dismissed. The judgement details that the procurement and deployment of Tasers by the Chief Constable does not constitute a violation of article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights and that the child is not a victim for the purposes of the Human Rights Act.
"I welcome the judgement that details that the deployment on a pilot basis was within the range of rational decisions available to the Chief Constable and did not breach section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
"The reality is that the procurement and deployment was a operational decision of the Chief Constable and not the Board," the DUP MLA said.
(BMcC/GK)
Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan dismissed an application to stop their introduction and also refused to grant an order to overturn decisions of the NI Policing Board to support the Chief Constable over their deployment.
The challenge was brought by a Belfast girl whose grandmother was killed by a police plastic bullet in the 1980s and lawyers for the child, who was not identified, argued that a proper equality impact assessment was not carried out, and that use of Tasers breached the "right to life and right to freedom from torture".
That's even though former PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde received NI Policing Board endorsement in 2008 to bring in the weapons as long as they are only used by authorised and specially trained officers.
Welcoming the dismissal by Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, the Strangford MLA said: "A minor applied to quash the decision of the Board supporting the Chief Constable's proposal to introduce Tasers.
"Additionally the application was to quash the decision that the deployment of Tasers was solely an operational matter for the Chief Constable.
"I welcome the fact that today this application was dismissed. The judgement details that the procurement and deployment of Tasers by the Chief Constable does not constitute a violation of article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights and that the child is not a victim for the purposes of the Human Rights Act.
"I welcome the judgement that details that the deployment on a pilot basis was within the range of rational decisions available to the Chief Constable and did not breach section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
"The reality is that the procurement and deployment was a operational decision of the Chief Constable and not the Board," the DUP MLA said.
(BMcC/GK)
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