Orde backs off in forms battle with Masons
PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde has halted a move to force all officers in Northern Ireland to declare membership of outside organisations, it emerged tonight.
With up to 4,500 completed forms now set to be torn-up, union representatives claimed a victory in their fight against plans to reveal associations with a list of bodies, including the Masons and the Orange Order.
Despite the climbdown following a legal challenge, Mr Orde has vowed to press ahead with his attempts to compile some form of register.
He is to consult lawyers and senior commanders over how to operate what he believes is a key part of the Patten blueprint for reforming the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
A PSNI statement said tonight: “The Chief Constable has written to the Secretary of State making representations on the urgent need to find a way forward on this issue.”
The development followed a challenge by the Masonic Order and two members of the police service to the instruction asking officers to declare membership of certain specified organisations.
Mr Orde had drawn up a list in a special Notes for Guidance section which also included the loyalist Apprentice Boys, the Knights of St Columbanus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
The Police Federation was fiercely opposed to the Registration of Notifiable Membership, however, claiming it could be held against officers.
A Judicial Review of the case was due to he heard at the High Court in Belfast.
But it was cancelled when PSNI chiefs were advised that their attempts to provide clarity fell outside what was legally permissible.
“The current process of Registration of Notifiable Membership has been terminated and the Notes for Guidance have been withdrawn,” a PSNI statement said.
The Police Service believes that the Registration of Notifiable Membership is an important and positive process.
But the Federation stressed that the 4,500 notification forms will remain sealed and will be destroyed, unread, on request from individual members.
Members can specifically request that the Chief Constable opens a notification form and takes account of it.
But all disciplinary proceedings arising out of a failure to comply with the requirements of the Force Order will be withdrawn, Federation secretary Terry Spence said.
He added: “The Chief Constable cannot remove the requirement to notify him of relevant membership as this arises from Westminster Legislation.
“However, the Federation remains of the view that the requirement of notification involves only an individual officer forming an honest belief as to whether he is a member of an organisation that might reasonably be regarded as affecting his ability to discharge his duties effectively and impartially.
“Accordingly the Chief Constable may not require anything further of officers.
"The Federation is pleased at the positive outcome of these important proceedings.”
