A file at the Public Record Office in Belfast includes minutes of a meeting that took place at Stormont House
A meeting at Stormont discussed using terrorism laws to tackle displays of paramilitary flags and murals in 2004, declassified files have shown.
The papers reveal that a senior PSNI officer stated that “comprehensive caselaw” could be developed in the courts to provide a “clear line between what is acceptable and what is not”.
A file at the Public Record Office in Belfast includes minutes of a meeting that took place at Stormont House on March 2 2004, which involved representatives from the PSNI, civil servants and representatives from the Community Relations Unit (CRU) and the Community Relations Council (CRC).
The minute said a previous meeting had concluded that a “community-oriented approach to the problem of flags was more preferable than a police-only response”.
Senior officer Gary White told the meeting that he had had a discussion with the office of the Department of Public Prosecutions relating to the use of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The minute said: “Again, the issue of what is or isn’t acceptable behaviour became an issue but GW (Gary White) believes that the DPP are in favour of using the provision generally and this is easiest when a flag or mural illustrates an explicit level of support for a paramilitary organisation.
“Obviously, there will be areas where there is doubt as to the nature of a flag.
“GW suggested that this should be a matter for the Courts and that a comprehensive caselaw could be developed to provide a clear line between what is acceptable and what is not.
“He also reminded the group that there is a great deal of sympathy for the notion that what was acceptable during the worst phases of the Troubles, may not be acceptable now.”
The minute said the meeting was reminded of a test case relating to the display of paramilitary flags in Holywood, which resulted in the convictions of four people under section 13 of the Terrorism Act.
The meeting then heard that the CRU had commissioned research from the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s University on the issue of flags and emblems.
Billy Gamble of CRU stated that “his preference was for the community to resolve such matters by itself” but he felt that there “must be a threat of final sanction”.
The minute said “The group was clearly impressed by the approaches of the CRU/CRC and await the outcome of the policy document in June
“It is clear, however, that there will be times when the community simply cannot prevent paramilitaries from indulging in this activity.
“In such circumstances the PSNI are content that they have the necessary powers under the Terrorism Act to deal with the situation. In short, there is no one size fits all policy that can resolve the flags issue.”
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