Justice Minister slams ‘absolute nonsense' over claims she can quickly change Ombudsman removal laws
Naomi Long said there has been 'a lot of misinformation' surrounding the issue which would require extensive public consultations to achieve.
It comes after Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman, Marie Anderson, announced she was taking a temporary leave of absence on Tuesday.
Her leave follows the news that police investigating an alleged domestic incident at the Ombudsman's home have sent a file of evidence to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
Ms Anderson said that, despite planning to retire in December, she opted for temporary leave due to the 'current commentary' that was 'detracting from the focus' of her work with bereaved families.
The probe, launched after the alleged incident at Ms Anderson's Co Down home in September 2023, was carried out by West Midlands Police at the request of the Chief Constable, and has now concluded.
Think tank calls for new approach to save public services
The PPS confirmed that the file reports 'one individual for potential offences of perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office'.
Mrs Long believes there has been 'too much speculation' regarding the alleged incident, as well as 'a lot of misinformation' in the capabilities of the Department of Justice's powers.
She told the BBC's Nolan Show: 'I think that brings a legal risk. I also think that brings all sorts of damage to the individual.'
Asked about the department's powers generally in relation to the Police Ombudsman, she said: 'There has been a lot of misinformation around this. First and foremost, for me, public confidence in the role of the office of the Police Ombudsman is crucial because it impacts on the confidence in policing. I want to acknowledge [her] decision to delegate her powers to the chief executive and senior staff.
'To be clear, the Ombudsman herself is not appointed by the Department of Justice or employed by the Department of Justice. She is a corporation sole, which means that the powers of the Ombudsman are vested in the individual, not in the office.
'It's not her office that has the powers, the office is there to facilitate her powers.'
Mrs Long explained that the nature of accountability in the Ombudsman role was set up to ensure control was not 'abused' for political means.
She added: 'It's something I am very conscious of and have been conscious of for some time. It would require a period of significant public consultation to ensure that any power to suspend or remove the Ombudsman could not be abused for political ends.
'That is the reason why when this office was set up originally there was no power of suspension or removal from office. The fear was that if politicians had the power to suspend the Ombudsman, they would use that power if they disagreed with their findings or their interventions.'
The Justice Minister admitted there is 'a conversation to be had' surrounding the high thresholds, but slammed the notion that any action from her office could be taken swiftly.
'There are very clear rules set down in law about when the Ombudsman should be removed from office, in terms of when someone should retire, and those thresholds are high – there's no question about that.'
'There is a conversation to be had around this, but the idea that a piece of legislation, that either I or the Executive Office could bring at the drop of a hat without thorough consultation and legal advice is absolute nonsense.
'Some commentators have been suggesting we should just change the law, it is not that simple.'
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