State opposes costs bid by lawyers for ‘hooded men’

The State is opposing an application by lawyers for the hooded men for their legal costs over a case they brought to the High Court in a bid to compel the Government to seek a revision from the European Court of Human Rights of its findings over their internment in the 1970s.

Earlier this month the Government said it would ask the ECHR to revise its controversial 1978 judgment over the alleged use of torture techniques by the British army in Northern Ireland on the men who were hooded and subjected to sensory deprivation practices.

The men, known as the hooded men, wanted the Government to raise the matter after information emerged in an RTÉ programme entitled The Torture Files.

The men initiated High Court proceedings aimed at compelling the Irish Government to seek a revision of the ECHR1978 finding the men’s treatment in 1971 did not constitute torture.

Yesterday, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns was told the men were seeking costs from the State.

Michael McDowell SC, for the State, said they were opposed to any order compelling the State to pay the men’s legal costs.

Counsel said it was their case that the application, which became moot after the Government said it would seek to revisit the ECHR decision was “doomed to failure” and could never have succeeded had it gone to trial.

Mr Justice Kearns said important issues had been raised in the cost’s application, and further submissions were required before he could decide on the matter. He adjourned the case to a date in January.