Justice Delayed (Again).

On January 30th 1972 Catholics held a civil rights march against internment (detention without trial) in the Bogside area of Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

The British Army's response to this civil rights march was to open fire on the protesters with live ammunition. This resulted in the deaths of 13 civilians and the wounding of 12 civilians.

Known as the second Bloody Sunday this is probably the most famous incident of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Bloody Bono and U2 did that song about it.

In 1998 a Public Inquiry into the incident was held. Under Lord Saville of Newdigate. This concluded that the 13 civilians had been unlawfully killed and the 12 civilians had been unlawfully wounded.

Today (14/3/19) we were supposed to find out whether any of the British soldiers present that day are to be prosecuted for those 13 unlawful killings and 12 attempts at unlawful killing.

Unfortunately British Parliamentarians have decided that today is the day they will attempt to block Britain's exit from the European Union (EU), Brexit. By forcing the UK govt to seek an extension of Article 50.

This has caused the announcement into prosecutions over the 1972 Bloody Sunday to be cancelled. In its place there has been an attempt to start a wider discussion.

The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland (DPP-NI) has announced that only one of 17 British soldiers present that day will be prosecuted. Claiming that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute the other 16. The individual to be prosecuted has been identified only as; "Soldier F."

This claim that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute the other 16 is bunkum.

Under UK law there is a principle known as; "Joint Enterprise." This means that if one member of a group commits a crime then all members of that group committed the crime. A deployed military unit is about the clearest example of a joint enterprise that you will find.

So if there is evidence to prosecute 1 of the 17 soldiers there is evidence to prosecute all 17.

The only exemption I can think of is if this "Soldier F" was the senior, commanding officer of the unit. A controlling mind ordering his subordinates to commit the crime.

However even the little information that is publicly available makes that seem highly unlikely. 13 civilians were unlawfully killed and 12 civilians were unlawfully wounded. This "Soldier F" is being charged with only 2 counts of murder and 2 counts of attempted murder.

The 1972 Bloody Sunday case of course cuts to the heart of the Brexit debate over the "Backstop" Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland.

The official start of The Troubles began with the 1969 Battle of the Bogside riots. In the Bogside area of Londonderry.

Of all of Northern Ireland's major cities Londonderry is the one which sits closest to the border with the Republic of Ireland. As the Backstop protocol pointed out if you were planning to visit the town of Muff in the Republic you would probably use the airport in Londonderry in Britain.

Even the name of Londonderry is loaded with the disputes of The Troubles,. To Protestants it will forever be; "LONDONderry." While to Catholics it is simply; "Derry."

In this case we are obviously talking about the DPP-NI rather than just the DPP. Highlighting an example of the existing regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland and the British mainland.

The Backstop protocol references; "Competent British Courts." Language that implies British Courts are often "Incompetent." An implication which seems fair given the way former DPP Alison Saunders mishandled a host of rape cases. Including the one against Liam Allen.

Today's announcement by the DPP-NI makes it very hard to describe the British Courts and legal system as; "Competent."

The British Parliament's latest Brexit debacle coincides with a EU hosted, three day conference on the Syria conflict.

One of the major issues is how to deal with the vast number of members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) who have recently been captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

These ISIL members are military prisoners who need to be dealt with under military law.

That first requires the convening of a "Competent Military Tribunal." As to how that is defined I'm currently working my way through the US military Manual for Courts-Martial. Which runs to 1,000, really dense, pages.

However once convened this Competent Military Tribunal will have to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether members of ISIL are lawful or unlawful combatants.

What determines whether someone is a lawful or unlawful combatant is whether they have upheld the laws of war. In their entirety.

However there are currently around 80,000 serving members of the British military. You cannot say that all 80,000 are unlawful combatants. Simply because one member murdered a prisoner in Afghanistan's Helmend Province back in 2011.

Instead it is a question of whether the armed group fosters a culture of illegality. Do they celebrate and protect members who break the laws of war. Or do they punish them. As the British military did in the case of; "Marine A."

By failing to prosecute 16 of the 17 soldiers involved in the 1972 Bloody Sunday it would strongly appear as though the British military fosters a culture of illegality. Making all 80,000 of its members illegal combatants.

So it would now be easy to suggest that certain figures in the British Establishment now support ISIL to the point they are giving them permission to behead British soldiers.

Or at least I think that's what's going on.

As a supposedly qualified lawyer the DPP-NI, Stephen Herron must know that his announcement today has no legal validity.

So certainly can't be considered his final word on the matter. 

13:00 on 14/3/19 (UK date).