Kate Hoey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for what reasons the use of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy granted in respect of members of the IRA was not announced in the London Gazette or the Belfast Gazette.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

There have been no instances in which the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM) has been issued in respect of paramilitaries in Northern Ireland since the current Government came to power in May 2010.

I am not aware of any legal requirement to publish in the media information relating to the use of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM). In England and Wales, RPMs signed by HM the Queen, on the advice of the Secretary of State, are then passed to the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery for sealing, who by convention subsequently places the notice in the London Gazette. By convention in Northern Ireland, RPMs signed by HM the Queen are not subsequently placed in the Belfast Gazette.