§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 18 February,Official Report, column 1034, if he will provide whatever information is available on those occasions on which he, or other Ministers in his Department, signed public interest immunity certificates, and for what reasons.
§ Sir Patrick MayhewSince I became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, I have signed the following public interest immunity certificates. In one certificate, signed in May 1992, I made a claim for certain members of the security forces to be screened from the public in inquest proceedings and for the protection of certain documentary and oral evidence from disclosure on grounds of national security relating to methods used to gather intelligence about terrorists. I signed a similar certificate in relation to an inquest which took place in March 1993. In another certificate, signed in February 1993, made for the purposes of criminal proceedings, I made a claim in relation to certain police. files. The remaining certificates were to protect the identity of prison officers and methods of control in prisons in connection with civil proceedings by prisoners.
No other Northern Ireland Office Minister has signed any public interest immunity certificate during this time.