Ten Ulster prisoners freed after EU ruling
Ten prisoners have been set free from jail in Northern Ireland after a landmark ruling from Europe that their human rights had been abused.
The prisoners had been set to be released last month but had been kept in jail after losing remission for committing a range of offences.
The decision to release them was made following the recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that powers of prison governors to impose loss of remission for offences committed inside contravened the right to a fair trial.
Their release came hours after an application for judicial review in Belfast High Court by a prisoner in Magilligan, Co Derry, who was serving a six-month burglary sentence.
His date of release was prolonged after he lost three weeks' remission for a breach of prison discipline.
During an emergency sitting at the court on Monday night his lawyers argued that he should be released immediately after the European court ruling.
Up to 900 prisoners have already been released in similar circumstances in England and Wales.
The European decision followed complaints raised by two prisoners in England who claimed they were being tried unlawfully because the governor was not an independent judge.
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Prison Service said other cases would now be reviewed and release dates recalculated in the light of the court ruling.
The Director of the Prison Service Peter Russell said his main concern was whether this posed any threat to prison discipline.
