CAJ legal challenge against Stormont for failing to adopt anti-poverty strategy to be heard by High Court
Details
When: Friday 31 January 2025, outside court 0930 hearing at 1030
Where: High Court, Kings Bench 2, Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast
What:
The High Court will hear a judicial review on the 31 January, against the Stormont Executive for failing to adopt an anti-poverty strategy, a legal obligation from the St Andrews Agreement.
The challenge has been brought by rights-group the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) with support from the Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS).
The respondents are the Department for Communities (Department with lead responsibility for the strategy), Executive Office and First and deputy First Ministers.
CAJ co-convenes the Equality Coalition network with the trade union UNISON. Through the Coalition, UNISON the NI Anti-Poverty Network and Barnardo’s NI have been active in campaigning for the Anti-Poverty Strategy, will attend the hearing on the 31 January and be available for interview prior to the hearing.
Background
S28E of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (as amended at St Andrews) places a legal obligation on the Stormont Executive to “adopt a strategy setting out how it proposes to tackle poverty, social exclusion and patterns of deprivation based on objective need.”
In 2015 a similar JR taken by CAJ with support from PILS found the Stormont Executive had acted unlawfully in not discharging the legal obligations to adopt the Anti-Poverty Strategy in that mandate. There was no progress in the short 2016 mandate, and no Executive was in place 2017-2020.
During the 2020-2022 mandate evidence-based work was progressed to develop an anti-poverty strategy. Following the 2022 collapse the Department for Communities confirmed in 2023 a draft strategy was ready to present to incoming Ministers.
Following the restoration of the Executive however in 2024 and the appointment a new Communities Minister no strategy has been published, presented to the Executive or adopted, despite the outstanding legal obligations.
Further background information into the Anti-Poverty Strategy can be read here in written evidence from the Equality Coalition to the Communities Committee.