Question
Public Interest Immunity Process – Noah Donohoe Case
Answer
The Inquest in relation to Noah’s death is presently before the Coroner’s Court and is, therefore, a matter of sub judice. The Coroner has full sight of all material held by the Police Service regarding this investigation. Throughout this process, there has been ongoing liaison with the Donohoe family and their legal representatives to keep them updated.
Public Interest Immunity (PII) is a common law process developed through the courts. The threshold for Public Interest Immunity is set by the courts.
Public Interest Immunity can be sought in criminal and civil proceedings and is not confined to Coronial Proceedings.
The Public Interest Immunity process in coronial cases involves:
a. the body seeking Public Interest Immunity, in this case the Police Service
b. The Northern Ireland Office – Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, or Minister of State
c. The Coroner
This should provide confidence and assurance to parties involved in the Public Interest Immunity process, as it is a multi-agency and layered approach to ensure all redactions are necessary and proportionate.
1. The Police Service is notified by The Coroner that an inquest into a death is to be held.
2. Under s.8 Coroners Act (Northern Ireland) 1959, the Police Service collates all material held within the police estate for revelation to the Coroner, per statutory obligation. This material can vary in format and could be held in hard copy, on IT systems or microfiche. All material is potentially relevant material in order for the Coroner to investigate the death.
3. The Coroner and/or their counsel is invited to view the potentially relevant material in order for them to determine relevance for the purposes of their investigation.
4. Once the Coroner has assessed and identified all potentially relevant material, the Police Service will prepare same by way of ‘marking up’ information, subject to Public Interest Immunity grounds.
5. This material will be paginated and a schedule of suggested redactions will be created.
6. At this stage, independent counsel for the Police Service is instructed to prepare an opinion on materiality regarding the Public Interest Immunity redactions, advising the Chief Constable regarding assertion of Public Interest Immunity, or not.
7. On completion, the process moves to the Secretary/Minister of State for Northern Ireland to review, assess and certify materials for Public Interest Immunity, which may result in a signed Ministerial Certificate for Public Interest Immunity being issued.
8. After the material has been subject to scrutiny by the Chief Constable and the Secretary/Minister of State for Northern Ireland, a Public Interest Immunity hearing will be scheduled before the Coroner. Within the closed part of this hearing, the Public Interest Immunity will be considered by the Coroner against the signed certificate.
9. Once the Coroner has confirmed they are content with the Public Interest Immunity, and on foot of the certificate, then material will be finalised. At this point Article 2/8 ECHR redactions are considered and applied, which are over and above the PII redactions; these feature as separate redactions and will be distinguishable from PII redactions in format. The Coroner will also consider these Article 2/8 redactions and confirm if they are content or not in their application. The Coroner can overturn all redactions and has the ultimate say.
10. The material is finalised and prepared by the Police Service and is then distributed to the Next of Kin and any Properly Interested Persons.
Gerry Kelly MLA - Sinn Féin