Two Northern barristers win court battle against royal pledge
Tuesday, 2 May 2000 15:31
Two Catholic barristers in the North have won an action in the Belfast High Court over their refusal to make a declaration to serve the British monarch. The men had been unable to become Queen's Counsel because of their opposition to the pledge. In their appeal against the decision by the British Lord Chancellor to retain the declaration, Seamus Treacey and Barry Mac Donald argued that it discriminated against them as Nationalists and was an affront to their political sensibilities.
In a 54-page judgement that ruled in their favour, Mr Justice Kerr said that the Lord Chancellor's decision to retain the declaration, in its current form, was based on a misunderstanding of the true facts of the case, and on his failure to anticipate the controversy the case would provoke. The two barristers, who were awarded their costs against the British Lord Chancellor, declined to make any immediate comment on the outcome of the case.
