Supreme Court finds PSNI decision not to investigate torture allegations as unlawful
Treatment was described as 'deplorable'
Last updated 15th Dec 2021
The UK Supreme Court sitting in London has ruled that the PSNI decision in 2014 to discontinue their investigation into the allegations of torture against the ‘Hooded Men’ to be unlawful.
The decision came following a three-day hearing before the Supreme Court in June of this year.
In the landmark Judgment handed down today, the Court commented that the treatment to which the Hooded Men were subjected to would be characterised today as torture:
“It is likely that the deplorable treatment to which the hooded men were subjected at the hands of the security forces would be characterised today, applying the standards of 2021, as torture. There is a growing body of high judicial authority in support of this view.”
Further it was commented that the treatment was administered as part of a ‘deliberate policy’ by the state:
“This treatment was administered as a matter of deliberate policy by the law enforcement agencies of the state. Those who administered it were acting under orders and were trained as to how it should be inflicted. It was authorised at a very high level including ministerial authorisation and was, therefore, an administrative practice of the state.”
The Supreme Court ultimately quashed the decision to not investigate, holding that it was ‘irrational’ and that it was ‘defective because it was unreasonably narrow’
The Court concluded that ‘The upshot is that the decision taken by the PSNI on 17 October 2014 on the basis of such a seriously flawed report was irrational and should not be allowed to stand.’
Darragh Mackin, Solicitor for the applicant Francis McGuigan, and the majority of the Hooded Men said outside Court:
“Today’s decision is a landmark victory for the Hooded Men. Since 2014 they have actively contested the decision by the PSNI not to investigate the allegations of torture. It was always clear that the initial investigation by the PSNI was nothing more than a window dressing exercise which only sought to pay lip service to the term ‘investigation’.
"The Hooded Men have also known that the treatment inflicted on them was that of torture. Today, the Supreme Court has confirmed that the techniques to which our clients were subject to can, and indeed must, be characterised by the standards applicable today, as that of ‘torture’.
"This is a welcome vindication for my clients who have for 7 years tirelessly fought for justice. Today, a Court sitting yards from the very building where this treatment was authorised, has delivered that justice in quashing the PSNI’s decision as unlawful.”