The NUJ has responded after an investigative journalist filed a high court claim against the Police Services of Northern Ireland (PSNI) for unlawfully obtaining communications in order to identify journalistic sources. The journalist, who reports on crime and paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland, has been granted anonymity and can only be identified as ‘YZL’. The journalist is seeking compensation for misuse of private information, harassment and breaches of the Data Protection Act.
The claim follows the vindication of NUJ members Trevor Birney, Barry McCaffrey and most recently Vincent Kearney in hearings at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) over unlawful surveillance by PSNI and other security forces. These were reported on this web site.
In 2025 an independent review by Angus McCullough KC identified 21 cases involving eight journalists where the PSNI had attempted to identify journalists’ confidential sources. McCullough determined that the PSNI’s Code of Practice between 2007 and 2015 failed to consider whether or not these authorisations were justified by an “overriding public interest” and thus “must be considered unlawful”. The review findings were accepted in writing by the chief constable of the PSNI, Jon Boutcher. While the NUJ has welcomed the McCullough Review, its limited scope highlights the need for a broader, independent public inquiry to investigate the full extent of systemic and unlawful spying operations targeting journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders in Northern Ireland – not only by PSNI but also other police forces and MI5.
A statement by NUJ general secretary Laura Davidson may be found at: https://www.nuj.org.uk/resource/nuj-responds-claim-further-psni-source-protection-breach.html