Record number of super-injunctions in Northern Ireland revealed

However, the Assembly has been told that it cannot even be told the date on which each order was made without potentially breaching their restrictive terms.

In the case of a traditional injunction, a media outlet can report that a court order has prevented it from reporting a story about an unnamed individual and provide some anonymised details of the order.

However, a super injunction prevents even the reporting of the fact that a banning order is in place, leading to concerns about the implications of such secrecy and the fact that the great legal expense involved in obtaining such orders means that they are generally the preserve of the wealthy and powerful.

Some super-injunctions have been broken by MPs using parliamentary privilege to name those behind individual orders, including former footballer Ryan Giggs and retail tycoon Sir Philip Green.

Rumours abound about high-profile figures alleged to have obtained super-injunctions. However, because of the extreme secrecy which surrounds the orders it is almost impossible to establish conclusively if such rumours are accurate.

The TUV leader Jim Allister, a critic of super-injunctions, has now established that there are four such orders currently in place in Northern Ireland.

In response to a written Assembly question from Mr Allister, new Justice Minister Naomi Long released a table detailing “the number of orders that have been made by the High Court prohibiting publicity on the granting of injunctive relief since 30 April 2012”.

However, she told him that “the exact date when an order was made or discharged cannot be provided without a risk of contravening the terms of the order”.

In 2016, an Ulster Unionist MLA established that there were six such orders in place, which at that time was the highest ever number for the gagging orders.

The figures released to Mr Allister show that one super-injunction was granted last year which remains active and two orders were granted in 2017, one of which remains active.

In total, over the last seven years there have been eight super-injunctions granted, of which four have since been discharged.

However, older super-injunctions remain in place, bringing the total number to seven active orders.

Mr Allister, who unearthed the information through his relentless tabling of written questions to Stormont ministers, said that the whole idea of super-injunctions “sits uncomfortably with due process and transparency” although in certain circumstances there could be “some justification for them”.

The criminal QC said that the extreme secrecy which surrounds the orders led to “public intrigue” as to who was withholding what from them.

Mr Allister said that “in reality, these are probably only available to those who can afford them and therefore they play out an imbalance in the legal process because if you’ve got the money you can bury things that might be embarrassing to you – which is a very uncomfortable situation”.