Judges consider bill on abortion protests

Dame Brenda King, the attorney general for Northern Ireland, has asked justices to consider a clause in the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill.

She says the clause does not provide for a “defence of reasonable excuse” and wants justices to consider whether it is a “proportionate interference” with the rights of “those who wish to express opposition to abortion services in Northern Ireland”.

Her office announced the move in a statement earlier this year.

“This is a legal issue distinct from any contentious policy question as to the provision of abortion services in Northern Ireland,” it said.

“If Clause 5(2)(a) is determined by the court to be within the competence of the Assembly, the Bill may proceed to become law.”

Lord Reed, Lord Kitchin, Lord Burrows, Lady Rose, Lord Lloyd–Jones, Lord Carloway, Dame Siobhan Keegan are considering arguments at an online hearing due to end on Wednesday.

An explanatory note about the case, posted on the court’s website, said the 1998 Northern Ireland Act permitted an attorney general for Northern Ireland to ask the Supreme Court to determine whether a provision of a bill would be within the Northern Ireland Assembly’s “legislative competence”.

The note said justices were asked to decide whether clause 5(2)(a) of the Bill was “outside the ... Assembly’s ... competence” because it disproportionately interfered with human rights, such as the right to freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.