Judge upholds police bid to correct religious imbalance

The need to correct the religious imbalance in the Police Service of Northern Ireland was undeniable, the High Court in Belfast heard today.

Mr Justice Kerr ruled that it was lawful for the PSNI to guarantee that half of new recruits into the force were Catholic.

Mark Parsons, 19, a Protestant from Bangor in Co Down had sought a judicial review of the new policy of 50-50 recruitment on religious grounds after he was refused entry to the force despite scoring higher in the entrance test than some Catholics who were subsequently accepted.

Dismissing the application, Mr Justice Kerr said: ‘‘The need to correct the imbalance in the police service was undeniable.

‘‘That had been recognised for a long time but earlier attempts to deal with it had failed.’’

He added: ‘‘It cannot seriously be disputed that a police force should be representative of the community it serves.

‘‘That had been recognised and endorsed by all the parties who supported the Belfast agreement.

‘‘That agreement had in turn been endorsed by 71% of the voting population in Northern Ireland.

‘‘Those circumstances provide formidable support for a method of recruitment that would strike at the heart of the problem.’’

After the hearing, Mr Parsons’ father also called Mark, said the family would be consulting their legal team before deciding whether to launch an appeal.

‘‘We clearly heard in court that there is an acceptable level of discrimination, but we don’t agree with that,’’ he said.

‘‘Members of the Roman Catholic community had lower scores but they got in. We don’t agree with any discrimination against any community, but we are disappointed with this judgment.’’