The Government has indicated that it is not empowered to release court transcripts to the families of the Omagh bomb victims via the National Archives and said that such a decision was for the courts themselves to make. Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter, reports.
The development damages the prospect of Special Criminal Court transcripts being released to the families for their civil action against the alleged bombers, because that court has already said it does not have the authority to release the transcripts.
While the Government said the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had made it clear that he is anxious to be as helpful as possible to the families, a note circulated last night said the release of the transcripts to the National Archive was a matter for the Courts Service. This follows a suggestion by the Labour leader Mr Pat Rabbitte that the Government could facilitate the release of the transcripts to the National Archive, which would then make them available to the families.
However, the Government said last night the transcripts were not in the hands of Mr Ahern or the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, and added that the Courts Service was an independent body.
Mr Rabbitte said that he had received a letter from Mr Ahern but said the Taoiseach did not deal with the specific points he made in the Dáil last Wednesday.
"The letter I've got doesn't address the point that I made, that the Minister for Justice is enabled under Section 8 of the National Archives Act to cause departmental documents to be transferred to the National Archive. Section 1 makes clear that court documents are in that category." A spokesman for the Courts Service said the drawing up and circulation of transcripts was normally confined to cases in which someone was making an appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal. "The extent and nature of the circulation of transcripts is purely a matter for the judge or judges where the original trial was heard," he said.
"There are procedures set down by the President of the High Court and the President of the Circuit Court in relation to this. It is open to parties to make application to the courts for access." However, the Special Criminal Court has already ruled against such an application from the Omagh families for transcripts from the trials of two people, among them the "Real IRA" leader Michael McKevitt.
When making its ruling, the court said its powers were limited to those set out in the statute under which it was set up.
"The statute establishing the Special Criminal Court did not confer that court with a power to release transcripts for the purpose of civil litigation," said the Government note.
"The Special Criminal Court ruled that it had not jurisdiction to release the transcripts."
The possible means of releasing the transcripts has already been discussed by legal advisers acting for the families and for the Attorney General.