Bloody Sunday and the Rule of Law in Northern Ireland - Softcover

Walsh, D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0333722884 ISBN 13: 9780333722886

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000

Synopsis

Drawing on original research into explosive evidence which had been concealed for twenty- five years, Bloody Sunday and the Rule of Law in Northern Ireland offers a devastating critique of the official Widgery Inquiry into the shooting of innocent and unarmed civilians by British soldiers on 30 January 1972 - 'Bloody Sunday'. The detailed and cogent exposition of how,
and the extent to which, the rule of law was sacrificed in order to achieve the result desired by the political and security establishments is profoundly disturbing.

Expert analysis of the relationship between law and security policy in Northern Ireland reveals the Bloody Sunday experience as an integral part of a sustained pattern in which law and justice have served as powerful and malleable tools in the hands of the political and security establishments, rather than as constraints on the excesses of the security forces. Prospects for a revival of justice and the rule of law are found in the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement and the unprecedented decision to establish a second tribunal of inquiry into Bloody Sunday.

About this title

Review:

'This book is a meticulously researched analysis of a seismic event in Northern Ireland's history and a searing indictment of legal and security policies applied in Northern Ireland in the years which followed. Not everyone will agree with the views expressed, but they are cogently and authoritatively presented. In future studies of the legal system of Northern Ireland there will need to be extensive references to Walsh's arguments.' - Professor Brice Dickson, Chief Commissioner in the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

About the Author:

DERMOT WALSH was appointed Chair of Law at the University of Limerick in 1996 where he is also Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice. He is a visiting Professor to the University of San Diego's Institute of International and Comparative Law and is a former President of the Irish Association of Law Teachers. He is the author of The Use and Abuse of Emergency Legislation in Northern Ireland (1983) and The Irish Police: A Legal, Constitutional and Administrative Perspective (1998). His report The Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry: A Resounding Defeat for Truth, Justice and the Rule of Law formed a primary component of the Irish government's Report on Bloody Sunday to the British government which, in turn, was instrumental in persuading the British government to establish the Saville Tribunal of Inquiry into Bloody Sunday in 1998.

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0333722884
• ISBN 13: 9780333722886
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 363