Gerry Adams: Bid to block Ex-Sinn Féin leader's compensation case dismissed

A bid to block Gerry Adams getting compensation after his convictions for trying to escape prison in the 1970s were quashed has been ruled 'academic'.

The Department of Justice had contested a ruling that the former Sinn Féin leader was wrongly denied a pay-out after his convictions were over-turned.

The application to put the appeal on hold pending the outcome of challenges to the Legacy Act has been dismissed.

The new legislation would put a block on Mr Adams receiving any compensation.

"We decline to grant the indeterminate stay. We consider that this appeal is academic," Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan told the Court of Appeal.

Mr Adams had been found guilty of two attempts to escape from lawful custody while being held without trial at the Maze Prison - then known as Long Kesh internment camp - in 1973 and 1974.

However, in 2020 the Supreme Court quashed both convictions after it emerged that clearance for his initial detention was invalid.

The Interim Custody Order (ICO) signed by a junior minister should instead have been personally authorised by the Northern Ireland Secretary at the time, William Whitelaw.

In December 2021 the DoJ refused his application for compensation as a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Mr Adams' lawyers successfully challenged that decision based on the findings made by the Supreme Court.

Last year the High Court quashed the decision to deny a pay-out.

The department lodged an appeal against that ruling and had tried to have the case put on hold until separate legal action against the controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act was dealt with.

The legislation offers a conditional amnesty to those accused of killings during 30 years of violence known as the Troubles.

It will also stop any new Troubles-era court cases and inquests being held.

Dame Siobhan said judges must apply the law as it stands at that point in time.

"Mr Adams is precluded from obtaining compensation for a miscarriage of justice," she said.

If the law changes he can reignite his application for a payment and the department can reconsider the case, she added.

Dismissing the appeal, the Lady Chief Justice said it was not in the public interest to hear the case.

She added: "We do so without any adjudication on the merits of the appeal arguments that have been raised."