Northern Ireland First Minister and DUP Leader Rt. Hon. Peter Robinson MP MLA, addresses delegates at the 2008 World Bar Conference

"Thank you for the introduction and for the opportunity to extend the warmest of welcomes to all your Conference delegates to Northern Ireland. I am also looking forward to the rare opportunity to address so many lawyers and judges for 15 minutes without challenges or questioning. I am delighted that you have chosen to visit us in Belfast this year. It’s an honour for our city to host such a prestigious event. It will also give those from outside the Province the opportunity to see how Northern Ireland has been transformed and is building for a brighter future. The organisers of this conference have attracted an impressive list of delegates and assembled a very remarkable group of speakers. Given Northern Ireland’s experience and history over the past few decades of dealing with some of the matters being discussed today, there are few better places that these issues could be considered. Mr Chairman, I am sure you all will have greatly enjoyed your visit to Dublin and to the Republic of Ireland, but I am especially pleased that you left the best part of your trip to the last. This would probably be the appropriate juncture for a joke about lawyers but I think instead I will follow the advice of US Chief Justice John Roberts who said not to tell lawyer jokes as lawyers don’t find them funny and non lawyers don’t think that they are jokes. So instead let me tell you something of how Northern Ireland is moving forward. In the period ahead the Northern Ireland Executive will want not only to consolidate the peace that is being built but also create a more prosperous society. Last week I was in Dublin seeking to attract some of the large companies in the International Financial Services Centre to come and take advantage of our lower cost base and highly skilled graduates. The location of such jobs in Northern Ireland would allow us to retain and offer opportunities for many of our young people who presently leave the Province for work elsewhere and it would also provide huge new opportunities for our legal profession within this new work sector.

Today, Northern Ireland is not only a good place to do business, it is also a good place to come to visit and I hope those who are here from outside the Province will return and stay longer next time to enjoy the hospitality. Before we look ahead to what the future may hold I think that it is important to recognise the many difficulties and challenges that Northern Ireland faced over the last forty years. I also think it is important to pay tribute not only to the legal profession but also the judiciary for its role in holding our society together. For decades, in the most difficult of circumstances, and when under constant threat, our judges helped preserve the rule of law in Northern Ireland and some even paid with their lives for doing so. They have played their part in ensuring that the Northern Ireland which is emerging today is one where the rule of law is preserved and democracy defended. In a Province that at times was deeply divided Northern Ireland’s independent and non factional Bar remained united and provided a service to people from every background without fear or favour. Given what we have come through, this is a remarkable achievement and is a tribute to all those who made their contribution. As we emerge from conflict, it would be fundamentally wrong to undermine institutions, such as the Bar, which have served the whole community so well in order to make change for change’s sake.

Today, I wanted to take the opportunity, from the perspective of a mere politician, to touch briefly on two important issues. Firstly the relationship between the courts and the democratic institutions in Northern Ireland and secondly the issue of the devolution of policing and justice functions.I regard the concept of the independence of the judiciary as being non negotiable. It is a pre-requisite to democracy. But equally, I believe it is important that it is the democratically elected politicians who should be responsible for setting policy and taking decisions.That is why I am wary of an over-extensive Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland which could usurp the role of democratically elected politicians and push judges into the political spotlight. I’m not sure that such an approach would ultimately be welcomed by either judges or politicians.Let politicians make laws - even at times bad laws - and be accountable for them to the electorate, rather than leaving important decisions to those who have no democratic mandate.Change in society must come through the will of the people, democratically expressed not, to coin a phrase, through a court impatient of democratic change. What we need in Northern Ireland is not more laws limiting the ability of people to make their own choices but a culture of tolerance which is not based on recourse to law.Overly anxious scrutiny of courts in the area of executive decisions also has a negative impact on decision making.The economic and social cost to Northern Ireland of legal actions being used for no other purpose than to delay development or to hold up decisions is immeasurable. It is not only the impact of those matters that actually go before the courts but also the impact which the fear of litigation has on decision makers that is damaging to our whole community and will impede our development.Finally let me turn to the issue of the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Over recent months the Prime Minister, the US President, some church leaders and many others have been urging us to expeditiously devolve policing and justice powers.The functioning of our courts, the operation of policing and the effectiveness of our prison service are matters of such moment that they cannot be part of a political trade-off. Northern Ireland as a society has been transformed from what it was just a few years ago. In particular great progress has been made in the last 12 months but there are still outstanding issues to be addressed and resolved. Many of you will be aware that the present Assembly still lacks some of the most important powers that the old Northern Ireland Parliament exercised. Historically, policing and justice powers have always been central to devolution in Northern Ireland. Indeed, I’m old enough to remember that it was the removal of these powers by Ted Heath which precipitated the fall of the Northern Ireland Parliament in 1972 because the unionist Prime Minister felt devolution without such functions was not worth having.Indeed, in his letter of resignation, he argued that the removal of these powers from Northern Ireland,“is not justified and cannot be supported or accepted by us. It would wholly undermine the power, authority and standing of this government.”So I am clear it is a unionist goal to have policing and justice powers devolved. In my view the real issue is not whether these powers should be devolved, but whether structures can be established which enjoy sufficient public confidence and, just as important, whether those who would operate those structures can also command the confidence of the community. Today, with the right arrangements in place, I have no doubt that the effective governance of Northern Ireland would benefit from the devolution of these powers. Crime levels are unacceptably high; the public is horrified about the growing lawlessness they see in their neighbourhoods – it may not be as bad as in other countries around the globe but people fear it is heading that way and they are demanding answers. But while people are not content with the policing status quo they will want to be convinced that any alternative that emerges will produce a better outcome. My party’s manifesto position is clear. We support the devolution of policing and justice powers but,we recognised, nevertheless, that there are real and particular sensitivities about who will be the policing and justice ministerDespite all of the very real progress that has been made – and it has been considerable – this is still the position. So what do we do? Do we wait, potentially for years, perhaps for a generation, until the necessary level of support is reached for such options to gain widespread public confidence? Or do we search for another basis that may be able to command confidence in the community?

My party put forward proposals in this area to the Assembly’s Preparation for Government committee in 2006 and, for us, these, and our Assembly Manifesto, offer a sound basis for negotiations.

It is a matter of public record that in recent weeks I have discussed these important matters with the deputy First Minister at some length and I also met and indicated to other party leaders that I want to examine these issues with them as well. I expect I need hardly say that agreement on a way forward has not yet been reached but, for myself, while I cannot be certain, I am not gloomy about the prospects of reaching an agreement which could command the confidence of everyone. I am committed and willing to intensify discussions with the deputy First Minister and others in the period ahead to test the possibilities. I will not attempt to characterise anyone else’s position but I can say that there is a growing understanding of all the concerns that attend this debate, including those I have articulated, and a serious engagement is underway on how to resolve those concerns. I need not tell this audience that when dealing with such sensitive matters we must at all times remember we are dealing with the safety, security and well-being of everyone who lives here. We will tread carefully and only proceed when the community has the confidence to make progress. But at the same time we recognise that we have a responsibility to exert ourselves in order to identify safe structures which can create the conditions where this confidence will exist. I wish you all well with your conference and I hope those of you who are visiting Northern Ireland for the first time will find their visit here memorable and worthwhile. I hope you will be tempted to return, if not to see what progress we have made with policing and justice then perhaps to enjoy some of our scenery, leisure facilities or even, in moderation of course, some of our hostelries. I look forward to welcoming you back."