Speeches by Robinson.

“The direct application is not relating to the individual who is then contacted by the person being surveilled, but there have been discussions around, for example, within another media outlet in Belfast, 16 of their journalists being subject to surveillance, when, in actual fact, they were probably incidental to the on…”

“We can do it more cheaply in the county court; that is accepted. This is my second question. As a professional, you will be approached by many who say, “I have this issue—can you give me advice?”, and you will say, “That’s a no-hoper” or “That’s a case worth pursuing.””

“Is there sufficient action from the Law Society to go against professionals who do not give proper advice? If a lawyer is proceeding with a case that is ultimately vexatious, what sanction is there? Should there be a sanction?”

“This is my third and final question. In small claims court, there are no costs. It is an informal process and you cannot have a cost award made against you, save for vexatious cases. Malachi has outlined a situation in which he had a case struck out and appropriately used that mechanism, but it took four and a half yea…”

“There is no need for a correction; it was a different point.”

“You were before Master Bell, the master of the High Court—I understand that entirely. I was making a point about the cost implication in the small claims court. There are no cost awards save for where a case is vexatious. I am asking: do we need a system in our courts that goes beyond cost implications to a compensator…”

“I am not saying, by the way, that incidental surveillance is not consequential, but it is not the subject under investigation.”

“I do not mind whether Mr Birney or Mr McCaffrey answers my next question, and we will unpack some of the other issues in the rest of this session. You have referred to correspondence from our colleague Mr Davis to forces throughout the United Kingdom that have been operating. Some of this relates to legislation from 25…”

“Paul, I am coming back to you, but not on AI—you will respect the nature of the inquiry we are holding today, which is about SLAPPs and what potential recommendations we could make about SLAPPs. I have a couple of simple questions. It is possible to pursue and protect your reputation in Northern Ireland without recours…”

“I do not want to put words in your mouth, but that suggests that the law as it stands is right, but it was not followed, as opposed to suggesting that there are changes required within the law.”

“Just to be clear on that, there are principles around the surveillance of MPs and so on, but what you are highlighting is the incidental contact. There have been other examples—”

“We agreed to publish a letter this morning from the Chief Constable on this issue, and he talks about the number of applications for data that were made during the period between 2011 and 2024. Of that, he indicates that 0.5% were toward journalists. That is 0.5%. Mr Birney, can I ask you what your view is on the respo…”

“Good morning, gentlemen. Séamus, do you mind if I come to you first? I want to ask a question drawing on the comments of your general secretary immediately after, when she indicated that the IPT process could not be the end and that there remained questions that were unanswered. Could you give us a sense of, from her p…”

“While this session is rightly focused on PSNI, we had to mount a rebellion a number of years ago around the extension of these powers to groups as far-ranging as the Food Standards Agency. To be clear, it is not just the police.”

“You were before Master Bell, the master of the High Court—I understand that entirely. I was making a point about the cost implication in the small claims court. There are no cost awards save for where a case is vexatious. I am asking: do we need a system in our courts that goes beyond cost implications to a compensator…”

“There is no need for a correction; it was a different point.”

“This is my third and final question. In small claims court, there are no costs. It is an informal process and you cannot have a cost award made against you, save for vexatious cases. Malachi has outlined a situation in which he had a case struck out and appropriately used that mechanism, but it took four and a half yea…”

“I think Serbia is where some of the servers are based for the Shinnerbots, at least, who do a good job of intimidating others on Twitter. It is good to see you both here this morning. Allison, you mentioned the team set up in the PSNI, which has given you a greater level of access to information and therefore potential…”

“Is there sufficient action from the Law Society to go against professionals who do not give proper advice? If a lawyer is proceeding with a case that is ultimately vexatious, what sanction is there? Should there be a sanction?”

“We can do it more cheaply in the county court; that is accepted. This is my second question. As a professional, you will be approached by many who say, “I have this issue—can you give me advice?”, and you will say, “That’s a no-hoper” or “That’s a case worth pursuing.””