Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA has welcomed the appointment of Sir John Gillen to lead the independent review of the law and procedures on unfitness to plead and trials of fact, which Jon Burrows called for in correspondence to the Justice and Health Ministers in July.

Jon Burrows MLA said:

“This is the right appointment. Sir John’s review of serious sexual offences was a landmark piece of work that led to real change in the law, and there is nobody in Northern Ireland with a stronger record of getting recommendations off the page and onto the statute book.

“I wrote to both ministers in July asking for this review because public confidence in how these cases are handled had been badly shaken. They listened, and they have put a serious figure in charge of it.

“The terms of reference are broader than I expected. The review will ask whether a conventional criminal trial should remain possible if someone later becomes fit to plead. It will ask whether sex offender notification requirements should apply where a jury has found that a person committed acts which would otherwise be serious sexual offences. Those are the questions people have been asking since the summer.

“As a former police officer, I have seen what this process looks like from the family’s side. A jury finds that the acts were committed. There is no conviction and no criminal record. The person may face no loss of liberty at all. The family goes home with a finding on a piece of paper.

“Sir John engaged with more than 200 organisations and individuals during his last review. I would encourage victims, families and anyone who has been through these procedures to take part in this one. What he recommends should be shaped by what they tell him.

“An interim report by February and a final report in the spring is a demanding timetable. Sir John’s last review changed the law. That is the standard this one should be held to.”