SOUTH Belfast businessman Sean Napier has said that the tax payer shouldn’t have to pick up the cost of legal fees associated with his case against DUP Ministers for their non-attendance at North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) meetings after Mr Justice Scoffield ordered that Mr Napier’s legal fees be covered and suggested that First Minister Paul Givan should pick up the bill.
This comes after Mr Napier returned to court on Monday to seek an order mandating ministers to agree a date and an agenda for the next NSMC meeting.
While the High Court Judge declared that the DUP Ministers are committing an “abject breach of their solemn pledge” due to their ongoing boycott of the North-South bodies, he refused to grant an order forcing them to attend.
Reaffirming the declaration from October that the DUP boycott is unlawful, Mr Justice Scoffield said: "Lest there be any temptation for the respondents to represent this decision as a vindication of their position, the following comments need to be made in conclusion.
"More than two months have passed since the court made the earlier declaration in these proceedings.
"The respondents have continued on the course they conceded was unlawful.
"A variety of business on matters of cross-border interest has not been able to be progressed in the meantime.
"That is because ministers are acting in plain breach of what they know to be their legal obligations.
"Each of the respondents affirmed the ministerial pledge of office, committed themselves to discharge all the duties of their ministerial office and to uphold the rule of law.
"By their actions the respondents, and principally the first respondent [Paul Givan] by his actions, are in abject breach of their solemn pledge."
Addressing the violence around the Protocol, Mr Justice Scoffield said that the DUP’s condemnation may be disregarded, when their Ministers are also willing to disregard the law.
“In recent months there have been – thankfully, sporadic – acts of violence claimed by or attributed to those who, like the respondents, oppose the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol,” he said.
“These actions have been justly condemned by, amongst others, the respondents’ party leader [Jeffery Donaldson].
“The actions of those who choose to flout the criminal law for political ends, particularly where the use or threat of violence against person or property is concerned, are of course particularly extreme and wholly unacceptable.
“However, it is incumbent upon those in political leadership to reflect on the example set when they choose to wilfully ignore clear legal obligations to which they are subject.
“It is not difficult to conceive that condemnation of others’ law-breaking may be less influential when political leaders are themselves content to publicly disregard the law in instances of their own choosing.
“From the court’s perspective, it is both profoundly concerning and depressing that the respondents hope to secure political advantage by openly flouting their legal obligations.”
Ordering the costs of Mr Napier’s legal fees to be covered, Mr Justice Scoffield continued: “The costs order applies against each respondent personally but it is a matter for others whether or not an indemnity from public funds will be provided, as would normally be expected where a public office-holder is the subject of a challenge in respect of the exercise of their functions.
“As was raised at one of the review hearings in relation to this phase of the proceedings, however, many may consider it difficult to see why the respondents should benefit from public funding in relation to proceedings challenging a wilful failure to exercise the responsibilities of their office, rather than as a result of errors made in the course of exercising those responsibilities.”
Mr Justice Scoffield went on to say that at this stage, he believes it appropriate that First Minister Paul Givan should bear the costs of this further phase of these proceedings.
Mr Napier will return to court in January when the issue of who should cover the cost of the case will be decided.
Speaking after the ruling, Mr Napier told Belfastmedia.com: “Why should the public pay for these guys' unlawful behaviour? They have been using the state's lawyers to defend themselves in this case.
“I was willing to put my money on the line and pay my legal fees if I lost. That could have cost me a lot of money. I hope that we don’t come to a situation whereby there will be no monetary risk to the DUP or the individuals named in the case with the costs being picked up by the taxpayer.”
