The East Belfast MLA said, “The decision by the Police Ombudsman to appeal this ruling will dismay many people, not least because it is not the first time the Courts have delivered a judgement in relation to the PONI’s approach to legacy cases.
The question now arises as to where the funding will come from for this appeal. The only options for this would appear to be from within the Ombudsman’s own budget or from the Department for Justice. We already know of the significant financial pressure facing the Department, with real potential for services to be cut in an attempt to meet the shortfall. On the other hand, if it comes from the Ombudsman’s office then this will impact on the office's ability to deal with cases.
There have already been significant concerns raised about the operation of the Ombudsman’s office and I know of cases where they will not even acknowledge receipt of a case 4 months after it was passed on. In neither scenario is the funding of an appeal a good use of time and scarce financial resources.
All this is taking place against a backdrop of abdication by the Justice Minister as she continues to take a ‘nothing to do with me’ attitude, despite the Ombudsman being ultimately accountable to her, and we cannot even get an answer as to whether the Minister continues to have confidence in the Ombudsman or not.”