Northern Ireland attorney general says passage in former minister's memoir 'undermines the administration of justice'
The former cabinet minister Peter Hain faces contempt of court proceedings over strident criticisms he made of a judge in his memoirs, its publisher has said.
John Larkin, attorney general for Northern Ireland, has been granted leave to prosecute Hain and Biteback Publishing over claims the passage "undermines the administration of justice".
Hain, a former Northern Ireland secretary and now shadow Welsh secretary, vowed to defend free speech against what his publisher said was an arcane law banning criticism of judges, which had not been used in living memory.
His remarks about Lord Justice Girvan's handling of a judicial review case caused controversy in Belfast when the book was published. The lord chief justice, Sir Declan Morgan, described them as "potentially an assault on the wider independence of the judiciary".
Hain refused to back down and renewed his criticism, sparking the legal action. The publisher said leave for the contempt action was granted last week by Lord Justice Higgins and the case was listed for review by the divisional court in Belfast on 24 April.
The attorney general's court submission claimed the remarks "constitute unwarranted abuse of a judge in his judicial capacity that undermines the administration of justice in this jurisdiction, and consequently constitute a contempt of court".
Publication would serve to "create without justification a real risk that public confidence in the judicial system will be undermined", it went on, suggesting the risk had been exacerbated by the MP's later comments.
Hain said: "I am astonished at this turn of events. I worked harder than anyone as secretary of state for Northern Ireland to uphold the rule of law and judicial independence and delivered the 2007 settlement which helped secure that.
"If free speech and comment in a political memoir is to be suppressed, then people will be entitled to ask what system of justice prevails."
Biteback's managing director, Iain Dale, said: "I am advised that proceedings for contempt for criticising judges have been considered obsolete in England and Wales since the end of the 19th century. Our lawyers are not aware of any such case having been brought in Northern Ireland in living memory.
"As a publisher, I strongly support free speech, not least by our elected politicians, and we will therefore be vigorously defending this case."
As is usual for ministerial memoirs, the manuscript had been pre-read by both the Cabinet Office and the Northern Ireland Office, neither of which had suggested the passage be amended, Dale said.