Justice minister urges exemption for Chloe Mitchell trial amid barrister strike

Barristers should grant a derogation to allow the trial of murder victim Chloe Mitchell to begin despite ongoing strike action, the justice minister has said.

Naomi Long said there is “something fundamentally distasteful and unethical about levering people’s trauma in order to have personal benefit”, but was also accused of pitting “one cohort within society” against another as she criticised striking barristers.

A number of high profile court cases, including the murder of Ms Mitchell and Natalie McNally, have been impacted by the criminal barristers withdrawing some services in a long-running dispute over fees for legal aid cases.

The escalated action has effectively halted crown court cases involving those who require legal aid.

Brandon John Rainey, 27, is due to stand trial for the murder of Ms Mitchell, whose remains were found in Ballymena in June 2023 after extensive searches.

In Justice questions in Stormont on Tuesday, Ms Long said the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) had proposed “an additional derogation to the service withdrawal, unclarified in number and scope, might be offered on a week-to-week basis, subject to their assessment of progress”, which she described as “obviously untenable”.

DUP MLA Diane Dodds said the dispute between barristers and the department is “escalating in terms of its intolerance and intransigence, but in the meantime victims are suffering”.

“I am ever so glad that the McNally family will be able to see justice and that process started for their daughter, but there is a huge trauma for families in relation to this – and particular in not knowing whether or not the trial may go ahead,” she said.

“Can you confirm for the Mitchell family in Ballymena whether there will be a derogation for this particular case, and when they might hope to seek justice for their daughter?”

Ms Long replied: “There is something fundamentally distasteful and unethical about levering people’s trauma in order to have personal benefit, and I believe that it is wrong to do so.

“I do not want victims to become bargaining chips in this exchange, and that is why I said that any suggestion that a derogation would be turned on and off like a tap, as in some way, a means of moving this forward was not acceptable to me.

“I can’t have a situation where, for example, defence counsel in some of these cases are making decisions as to whether or not those cases will proceed to court.

“The derogations were sought by the Public Prosecution Service on the basis of their professional assessment of the urgency, and they took into account the feedback that they got from the victims and witnesses service.

“So I believe that those derogations should happen, they are mitigations against the ongoing strike. They are not a resolution to it.

“Specifically in terms of Chloe Mitchell’s case, I’m due to meet the family shortly.

“I unfortunately cannot give them the certainty that they want.

“Indeed, neither would this idea of a tap being turned on and off on derogations give family that certainty.”

The Justice minister proposed that the CBA should return to its position before going on strike and re-enter negotiations with the department.

“I still believe that is possible, but it will require the CBA to be willing to meet me halfway,” she said.

Sinn Fein MLA Emma Sheerin acknowledged “concern across the board around the impact that this is having on victims”, and said that no members take that “lightly”.

She said: “I’m also really concerned around the public discussions and conversations and the coverage of this in the media, some of which you’ve engaged in, and I think there is a feeling here that one cohort within society are being pitted against another, and I don’t know how appropriate that is.”

Ms Long said: “When I’m asked questions about the situation which is of public interest, I will answer them, and I will not be curtailed by any of the legal professions, or indeed members of this House.”

She added: “This is not about pitting one group of people against another, to be clear.

“It is in the interest of justice and of the Northern Ireland public that these cases all proceed to conclusion.”

In a statement, the CBA said the proposal for some derogations “would create a significant opportunity to accelerate and expand the range of high-priority cases that are affecting the most vulnerable individuals and their families”.

“The CBA considered that this could therefore be a significant opportunity for meaningful progress to take place which would benefit all involved in or affected by the current action.”