Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland warns breaking international law will ‘undermine trust in legal system’

Sir Declan Morgan

Northern Ireland’s top judge was sharply critical of government ministers in an interview due to be broadcast on BBC One in Northern Ireland tonight at 10.30pm, our sister publication Irish Legal News understands.

The intervention comes after Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told MPs that provisions in the Internal Market Bill would “break international law in a very specific and limited way”.

Sir Declan reportedly told the BBC: “Comments such as an indication that you’re going to break international law, albeit in only a small way, is something that may well undermine trust in the government and certainly might undermine trust in the system of the administration of justice.”

He added: “It seems to me it enables others to take the view that they can choose which laws apply to them. We need to have a public which is confident that the law will be applied as it is and that it will be applied with integrity and independence.

“Domestic law is what it is, but international law is much more grounded in trust and confidence between nations and where there is an indication that a state intends to break international law, it seems to me it may have a domestic effect on the confidence the public may have in the legal system generally.”