Press Release
11 November 2005 --
“This
morning at the High Court in Belfast DUP Councillor Paul Berry
MLA successfully won an injunction against the Party Officers of
the Ulster Democratic Unionist Party.
Upon
hearing submissions from his lawyers, Madden & Finucane, Mr
Justice Weir ordered that the Defendants be restrained from
conducting or continuing with any disciplinary proceedings until
they comply with the Rules of their own Party and with the Rules
of Natural Justice.
The
DUP Disciplinary Panel had refused requests by Madden &
Finucane to adjourn a hearing on Monday 14th November
2005 at Party Headquarters until they had a number of basic
questions answered by the Party.
In
addition, the High Court ordered that the DUP:
(i)
Specify the breach of discipline or
practice alleged against Mr Berry;
(ii)
Confirm that Mr Berry will be afforded a
proper opportunity to be heard and to meet the case against him;
(iii)
Clarify the status, composition and power
of the disciplinary panel, including the party rule under which
it has been convened together with its remit.
(iv)
Set out the evidence to be relied upon at
the proposed hearing.”
After
the court hearing, Mr Berry said:
“Commencing
Legal Proceedings was not something that I wanted to do. All I
want to do is to ensure that the hearing I receive is fair,
legal and comes to a just outcome. Acting on my behalf, my
lawyers asked for answers to some basic questions to be provided
by the Party. Madden & Finucane also asked for confirmation
that they will be able to properly represent me in the
disciplinary process, in accordance with the rules of natural
justice. To date these issues have not been addressed in a
satisfactory manner. I think that Mr Justice Weir’s Ruling
this morning is something that should be studied by everyone
concerned. I have a strategy in place and I am continuing to
implement that strategy.”
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