14 September 2020
Law Society statement on suggestion that UK Govt may breach Int law
The President of the Law Society of Northern Ireland,
Rowan White, has issued the following statement in response to the suggestion
that the United Kingdom Government may consider breaching international law.
"Upholding the Rule of Law, both domestically and
internationally, is a core responsibility of democratic Government and ranks
alongside the responsibility of Government to protect its citizens.
To hear a
Secretary of State inform Parliament that the Government intends to introduce
legislation which breaches an International Agreement in a “limited and
specific way” offends this principle, as does the suggestion that the Lord
Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice will only consider resigning his
office where the Government’s non-compliance with the law is one with which he
personally disagrees.
The Government is no more entitled to pick and choose
which laws it keeps than is the individual citizen. To suggest otherwise is to
risk undermining respect for the Rule of Law and for the Government itself”.