Rosemary Nelson Inquiry Report

Monday 9th May 2011 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr Owen Paterson)]

I am pleased to inform the House that the report of the Rosemary Nelson inquiry, chaired by Sir Michael Morland, will be published on Monday 23 May 2011.

In my written statement to this House on 5 April 2011, Official Report, column 61WS, I confirmed that the process to check the report in order to meet the obligations on me in relation to article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and national security had been completed, and that the report could be published in full. I have advised Sir Michael Morland of this. Monday 23 May is the earliest date on which the report can be published given the recent Assembly Elections in Northern Ireland and the need to make the relevant arrangements for publication.

I will make a statement to this House at the time the report is published. With the permission of the Speaker, I confirm that I will allow an opportunity for members of the family of Rosemary Nelson, as well as the other represented parties at the inquiry, to see the report privately and be briefed by their lawyers on its contents, some hours before the report is published. Some Members of this House will similarly have an opportunity to see the report in advance of publication, to enable them to respond to the statement made to this House at the time of publication.