Supreme court begins looking at PSNI ability to investigate legacy cases

By PA

Supreme Court justices have begun considering issues relating to whether the Police Service of Northern Ireland is sufficiently independent to carry out investigations into historic events in the region.

Seven judges based in London are analysing legal argument about proposed investigations into the killing of a woman in 1972 and the treatment of 12 people, who have become known as the “hooded men”, detained in 1971, at a remote hearing.

Lord Hodge, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Kitchin, Lord Sales, Lord Hamblen, Lord Leggatt and Lord Burrows have been asked to consider issues relating to the shooting of 24-year-old Jean Smyth in Belfast and the detention of the “hooded men” following court hearings in Northern Ireland.

Judges are considering whether the Legacy Investigations Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland is “sufficiently independent” to investigate Mrs Smyth’s death, or other “such deaths” and whether the Police Service is “sufficiently independent” to carry out “any necessary investigation” into the treatment of the “hooded men”.