NI: Top government lawyer to lead work on reforming petition of concern
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Hugh Widdis
The most senior lawyer in the Northern Ireland public sector will lead a working group on reform of the petition of concern in the latest round of talks aimed at restoring the Northern Ireland Executive.
Hugh Widdis, head of the Government Legal Service for Northern Ireland, otherwise known as the Departmental Solicitor, will convene the working group for the first time by the end of this week.
Each of the five parties involved in the latest round of multi-party talks will be asked to nominate three representatives to the working group, which will also receive advice and support from representatives of the UK Government and Irish Government.
Four other working groups have been established on subjects including the Programme for Government; transparency, accountability and the operation of the Executive; rights, language and identity; and improving the sustainability, stability and operation of the Good Friday Agreement institutions as a whole.
The progress of the talks will be reviewed by Prime Minister Theresa May and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the end of May.
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