Belfast firm takes on 20 cases against An Garda Síochána

Belfast firm KRW Law has taken on 20 miscarriage of justice cases against An Garda Síochána, Newstalk reports.

The cases, which allege wrongdoing in investigations ranging from fraud to murder, have been described by solicitor Kevin Winters as “evidence of ingrained systemic human rights failures within the Irish justice system”.

He said: “We’ve just recently taken instruction on a raft of cases, at the heart of which is a serious failure to address Article 2 issues.

“There are four cases in particular - Nugent, Tuohy, Clancy and Kelly - at the heart of which is a a serious, systemic failure to investigate murder, allegations from family members that there was a cover-up, misdirected investigations and treating the families with contempt.”

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Winters added: “We’re looking at human rights issues on the back of a huge set of judicial precedents, where accountability was at the centre stage of many cases before the domestic courts here and the Supreme Court of Human Rights.

“We have a back catalogue of much intense human rights-based litigation, which doesn’t really exist to the same extent when it comes to the scrutiny of Gardaí There’s a deficit there.”