Jamie Bryson: These draconian new Covid laws didn’t come into effect when the public were told they did

Throughout Friday therefore I had been constantly checking to see when, as a citizen of Northern Ireland, I would be able to view the regulations which would bind me in law.

It’s a fundamental principle that citizens must be able to know and understand the law as it applies, in order that each person can regulate their behaviour to ensure compliance with the law.

There’s further a more complex Article 8 quality of law test, which places even more onerous requirements on law makers to ensure there is adequate safeguards to prevent the arbitrary exercise of statutory powers.

I found it incredible therefore as the clock ticked towards 6pm- the point we were told these regulations would come into force- that the legislation had not been published. How were citizens supposed to obey rules which were ‘secret’?

This turned into amazement when it transpired that at 6pm still no statutory instrument (the legislative mechanism for bringing the regulations into force) had been published. It appeared it had not even been signed.

We then had the incredible situation of the PSNI announcing on social media that the regulations were now in force. Bars and restaurants closed believing they were legally required to do so, when in fact there was no such requirement at that time.

The SF Communities Minister- with some fans already inside the stadium for Coleraine v Ballymena- then issued a ban on spectators at elite sports.

There is a massive problem with the aforementioned occurrences. There was no statutory instrument at 6pm, therefore these laws were unenforceable.

Indeed it was only overnight the statutory instrument was published. On close inspection the seal of the department is 10:30pm, not- as the public were misleadingly told- 6pm. In short; these draconian laws didn’t come into effect when the public were told they did. It’s hard to think of anything more shocking. It of course follows that there was no lawful basis for the decision of the Communities Minister, and it’s arguable whether there would ever be any lawful basis, even aside from the obvious point of there being no power flowing from regulations which weren’t actually in force.

The DUP leader quickly contradicted her Executive colleague, demonstrating the extent of dysfunction pervading throughout the corridors of power. To some it may seem that the technical points around statutory instruments and when laws come into force is nit-picking. But let’s follow the logic of this; the PSNI were announcing ‘regulations’ were in force which didn’t yet exist in law and a government minister was purporting to exercise powers she did not have, all on the basis of what effectively amounts to a policy statement of intent issued by the Executive.

The PSNI cannot enforce a government’s wishes, nor can citizens be bound by the guidance or whims of government ministers. There must be a lawful basis, or else all the policy statements in the world do not amount to a hill of beans.

We have been in a situation for months whereby a mandatory coalition Executive is issuing diktats, without Assembly scrutiny, let alone any official opposition. It’s a bad way to make law. A fact acknowledged by former Supreme Court justices Lady Hale and Lord Sumption QC.

But we have now gone a step further; laws are purporting to have come into force without the appropriate statutory instrument even being signed, let alone published. This, in any democratic society, is absolutely incredible.

In the madness of everything going on, this is something which simply can not be ignored. The fundamental rights, freedom and liberty of citizens is being stripped away without any regard for the rule of law.

I have a current case awaiting listing before the High Court in NI challenging the lawful basis for all of this, and a similar case is already in the Court of Appeal in England.

In the absence of Assembly scrutiny or any official opposition, and now it seems even minus the appropriate legislation, there is a desperate need for judicial scrutiny of these matters.

On Friday afternoon a German court overturned a government restriction on the hospitality industry seeking to force its closure by 11pm. The court found it was a disproportionate infringement on the industry.

It’s time the Northern Ireland courts stepped in to restore basic legal protections in how laws are made and applied (or misapplied as the case normally appears to be).

We have seen a Friday night massacre. The Executive’s credibility is demolished in the eyes of a large section of our society and it appears the mandatory government partnership has imploded into a coalition of chaos.

Two weeks ago in this newspaper I criticised a large section of the media, saying many had become lobbyists for lockdown and simply parroted Executive propaganda.

At 6pm on Friday night many journalists tweeted out that the draconian regulations effecting the liberty and freedom of all citizens were now in force. Those that jumped straight in, trusting the Executive line, didn’t even bother to check if they actually were in force, or not. When did journalists stop questioning and scrutinising?

The goodwill of March is gone, replaced with anger, scepticism and for the most part disbelief at the farcical mess we find ourselves in.

If any business received a prohibition notice or closed on the basis they believed they had to in law between 6pm and 10:30pm, they should urgently seek legal advice.

Jamie Bryson is a loyalist activist and commentator