‘Cautious welcome’ for Chief Constable’s vow on media surveillance information

There has been a “cautious welcome” after Northern Ireland’s Chief Constable pledged to supply information on applications for surveillance of media and lawyers within the next four weeks.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland was asked to provide to the Northern Ireland Policing Board a report on the extent of applications and authorisations of surveillance of journalists and lawyers.

It comes after journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney lodged a complaint with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) asking it to establish whether there had been any unlawful surveillance of them. That case is continuing.

In 2018, Northern Ireland-based Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney were arrested as part of a police investigation into the alleged leaking of a confidential document that appeared in a documentary they made on a Troubles massacre.

The following year, the two journalists lodged their complaint with the IPT.

At a meeting of the Policing Board on Thursday, Les Allamby, board member and chief commissioner of the NI Human Rights Commission, pressed PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher on when the report would be handed over.

Mr Boutcher said the information will be disclosed, adding that the PSNI will check with the IPT to ensure it can release the information, which is separate to the ongoing case.

He said the board wrote last September to then deputy chief constable (DCC) Mark Hamilton, a letter which was passed to Chris Todd when he became temporary DCC in November, adding that he apologised for that delay.

The Chief Constable also explained that because of the tribunal that had been due to take place last week, a decision was taken to wait until after the hearing to provide a written answer to the board.

However he said that position had changed after the tribunal was adjourned to October.

Mr Boutcher also said that since he became Chief Constable in October, there have not been any such applications.

“There is no industrial application of such powers to look at journalists or lawyers, or indeed NGOs – there has been nothing of the such like since I have arrived,” he added.

“I would hope to get that (response) to you within four weeks at most, but I’ll give the IPT the opportunity to see what we’re going to say so it doesn’t conflict with the proceedings, which I do not believe it does.”

Amnesty International and the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) gave a “cautious welcome” to the response.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director, said: “Amnesty is extremely concerned that the evidence revealed to date at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal point to a much wider pattern of covert police surveillance of journalists.

“We give a cautious welcome to the commitment today. It’s high time that answers are finally provided to the Policing Board and we have full disclosure of the extent of secret surveillance against journalists and others.

“The Chief Constable has a real opportunity to be open with the public and to distance himself from the unlawful police practices of recent years.”

Mr Boutcher insisted the delay to the IPT hearing last week was “not down to the PSNI”, adding: “That’s all I’m going to say because I don’t want to stray into territory… I’d like to deal with this and arrest any concern about the PSNI causing the delay last week.

“There was no delay because of a failure to submit information from this organisation and I will leave it at that. There was a closed session and there was an open session, and from comments made I am satisfied by the court that we’ve done everything that was required of us.”