A human rights group is to take a legal challenge against Stormont chiefs over the failure to adopt an anti-poverty strategy.
The challenge against First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly is being brought by the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) with support from the Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS).
The Department for Communities, which has the lead responsibility for the strategy, has also been named as a respondent along with The Executive Office.
The CAJ currently co-convenes the Equality Coalition network along with trade union UNISON.
Through the coalition several welfare groups, including NI Anti-Poverty Network and Barnardo’s NI, have been active in campaigning for the strategy.
In 2015 a Judicial Review found the Stormont Executive had acted unlawfully in not discharging its obligations to adopt a strategy during that mandate.
No progress was made during 2016, while the executive was not in place between 2017-2020.
Between 2020-2022 work was carried out to develop the strategy and it was confirmed in 2023 that a draft strategy was ready to be sent to ministers.
However, despite the restoration of the executive last year and the appointment of Gordon Lyons as communities minister, no strategy has been presented.
Daniel Holder, director of CAJ, said the “anti-poverty strategy is a key unfulfilled legal obligation from peace process agreements”.
“We had hoped not to ever have to be back to court again on this matter – but we feel we have no choice, a timetable provided to us by the Department of Communities raises questions as whether a strategy would in fact be adopted in this mandate,” he said.
