N. Irish court rejects order to end post-Brexit checks

The High Court in Belfast on Friday ordered the suspension of a ministerial decision to end checks on agri-food goods moving between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.

Judge Adrian Colton ruled that the decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots was against the law for violating  part of a post-Brexit deal to keep the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland open while ensuring that UK goods do not enter the EU without being checked.

The Northern Ireland Protocol, which dictates the checking of goods, is unpopular among people in favor of maintaining a union with Britain.

The court, however, ruled that Poots' decision would remain suspended until a full judicial review could be carried out.

The court's ruling comes a day after Northern Ireland First Minister Paul Givan, from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), stepped down to protest the post-Brexit rules.

Court seeks to clear up confusion

"There shouldn't be any confusion hanging over those in the Civil Service, so I am persuaded this is a case where there should be interim relief," the judge said in his ruling.

"I therefore make the order to suspend the instruction given by the minister for agriculture until further order of this court," he added.

Poots triggered a political and legal crisis by scrapping checks on agri-food goods crossing the Irish sea, but civil servants continued to do so amid the uncertainty of the order's legality.

Foreign Minister for the Republic of Ireland Simon Coveney called Poots' move a "breach of international law" and said it was "essentially playing politics with legal obligations."

Unresolved Brexit issues

The incident comes amid ongoing efforts by London and Brussels to hash out a deal to reform the protocol.

The fate of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state, was one of the thorniest issues during Brexit negotiations. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which brought an end to years of violence,  ruled against establishing a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Unionists, including the ruling DUP, of which Poots is a member, are worried that the checking of goods passing between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain risks disintegrating the union between the two. They also argue that it has damaged the Northern Irish economy.

Residents in Northern Ireland are set to head to the polls in May. The DUP is currently trailing behind Sinn Fein, a left-leaning party that favors joining the Republic of Ireland.

This article has been corrected to remove a mistaken reference to the "Good Friday Agreement" as the "Black Friday Agreement." We apologize for the error.

ab/sms (AFP, AP)