David Ford Is Elected As New Justice Minister

Justice powers were finally returned to Belfast at midnight on Sunday after 38 years, ending a controversy that led to the collapse of the old Stormont and that imperilled devolution ever since.

Agreement on the transfer of powers was finally achieved in February at Hillsborough, after nearly two weeks of intensive talks mainly involving the DUP, Sinn Féin and the British and Irish governments.

The Assembly chose Alliance leader David Ford to serve as Justice Minister on Monday afternoon as we went to press.

Ford will take control of the highly sensitive functions of justice, along with a budget of some £1.4 billion ($2.1 billion) and a combined staff of about 4,500.

Speaking on the floor of the Assembly, after his election, he pledged to work on behalf of all the people of the North saying that despite the fact that he was "not the unanimous choice of this assembly ... we have a duty together to provide leadership and if we didn't know that before, we sadly had a reminder of it at half past twelve this morning.

"We have a duty to show we can provide partnership, leadership and delivery and ensure that all our people see the benefits of devolution."

The new department of justice model will look familiar alongside its equivalent in Dublin and in Scotland, where the parliament already has control of justice.

The British government, led by Conservative prime minister Edward Heath, dramatically and controversially seized control of justice and security powers from Stormont in 1972 following the introduction of internment without trial by the unionist government and the rapidly escalating violence that followed Bloody Sunday in January that year.

The move was bitterly resisted by unionists, led by then Northern Ireland prime minister Brian Faulkner, and the old Stormont system collapsed as unionists resigned en masse.

Despite attempts to revive devolution with powersharing at Sunningdale in 1974 and other subsequent efforts to restore local government, policing and justice powers were always retained by the team of direct-rule ministers despatched by London.

Unionists, who opposed the taking of control by London in 1972, were the most hostile to the return of justice powers now.

Some were privately horrified at the prospect of a powersharing assembly, including Sinn Féin, gaining control over the police and courts.

However, a series of confidence-building measures agreed with Sinn Féin and others, including an agreement that neither the DUP nor Sinn Féin would propose a ministerial candidate, has changed decades of unionist hostility to local control of policing and the courts.

DUP leader Peter Robinson has delivered his party's support for the transfer of powers, but the ride has been particularly bumpy.

The new department and the Minister will follow a broad series of policy themes already agreed at Hillsborough.

These range from community safety, to justice and "shared future" policies, to efficiency of delivery bodies and access to justice.

As Justice Minister, Mr Ford will have overall political control of the prisons, the courts, the forensic science service, compensation systems and youth justice.

Matters relating to UK security remain "reserved" by London, as do responsibilities around so-called legacy issues linked to the Troubles.

The Northern Secretary will retain authority over contentious issues such as the inquiries into disputed murders and collusion between British state forces and paramilitaries.

Key figures in policing and justice will remain at arms length from the new minister. They include the PSNI chief constable, the Lord Chief Justice, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Policing Board, which oversees the PSNI, and the Attorney General.

Issues that the new minister will have to deal with include a wide-ranging investigation into the extent of child sex abuse in church and state-run institutions, prison unrest, the ongoing dissident threat and the summer marching season.

With Ford elected as Justice Minister by the Assembly it will mean a fifth party joining the Executive and the de facto end of Alliance's self-proclaimed role as the opposition within Stormont.