Society President calls on David Davis MP to withdraw 'grossly irresponsible' remarks

Comments made in the House of Commons this week associating lawyers in Northern Ireland with paramilitary organisations are grossly irresponsible and make our members more vulnerable, says Law Society of Northern Ireland President Mark Borland.

The President has called on David Davis MP to withdraw his remarks, which undermine the most basic principles of access to justice and respect for the rule of law. 

The President said: "I am deeply concerned by this characterisation of legal professionals in the House of Commons. We all recall remarks made in January 1989 when Junior Minister Douglas Hogg claimed in the House of Commons that some solicitors in Northern Ireland were ‘unduly sympathetic to the cause of the IRA’. Three weeks later solicitor Pat Finucane was shot dead at his home. The Report of the Stevens Inquiry concluded that Mr Hogg’s comments were unjustified.

“I am therefore concerned about the impact that these comments could have on our members while tensions are currently high in Northern Ireland. Language that associates legal professionals with paramilitary organisations or associates lawyers with the views of their clients is grossly irresponsible; it risks encouraging hostility towards practitioners carrying out their professional duties and it undermines basic principles relating to access to justice and respect for the rule of law.

“Solicitors are routinely and unacceptably subject to threats, abuse and attack in the course of their work. Comments such as these make our members more vulnerable and Mr Davis should withdraw them.

“There is a legitimate debate about how best to address the legacy of the past. Stigmatising lawyers has absolutely no part in it.”