The Assembly has endorsed plans to establish an independent life sentence review commission in the North. Members adopted the report of an ad-hoc committee established to examine a draft order presented to it by the Northern Secretary for consideration.
Under the draft, the secretary would appoint a commission to advise him on the release from prison or recall of those serving a life sentence. While broadly accepting the proposals of the draft, the committee report expressed a number of reservations.
Mr Alban Maginness (SDLP) said he believed the independence of the commissioners needed to be firmly established. The committee recommended that commissioners should have a five-year term of office and be appointed wherever possible by open competition.
The committee also felt that proposals to permit withholding evidence from the prisoner involved in front of the commissioners ran contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Ian Paisley jnr (DUP) said this clashed with the right to a fair trial. "This order allows for that which could lead to a travesty of justice," he said.
The committee also recommended that victims - or their families - of the prisoner should be permitted to make representations to the commission. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission had advised that this should at the very least be made in writing.
Mr Paisley was critical of the head of the human rights commission, Prof Brice Dickson, who had told the committee it would further consider the issue of how victims could make representations. Instead, he had written to the MLAs telling them the commission had too many other items on its agenda. Under the proposals, members of the commission would be specialists such as barristers, solicitors, psychiatrists, psychologists or criminologists.
Mr John Kelly (Sinn Fein) said: "Commissioners should be representative of the community and not just political appointees drawing from particular professional classes, the commission should be open to representatives of community organisations," he said.
Mr Billy Hutchinson (PUP) said he had to declare an interest as he was still on a licence as a former life prisoner. Responding to concerns voiced by Mr Kelly about political interference and bias in the treatment of republican prisoners, Mr Hutchinson said he hoped the measures were intended for "a new breed of prisoners".