Brian Moss from our office was pleased to act for the Integrated Education Fund (IEF), supported by the Public Interest Litigation Scheme Project (the PILS Project) in the IEF’s successful application for a judicial review of the Department of Education’s Strategy for Integrated Education.
The IEF are an independent charity which works to support the growth and development of integrated education in Northern Ireland.
The Strategy in question was published by the Department on 26 April 2023. The Department was legally required to publish the Strategy by virtue of the Integrated Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 (“the 2022 Act”). The IEF’s challenge focused on the Strategy’s apparent non-conformance with section 9(2)(e)(ii) and (iii) of the 2022 Act, in that the Strategy did not include targets and measurable benchmarks in accordance with the requirements of the legislation – important metrics by which to measure the growth and development of integrated education in the province, something which the Department is required (under the 2022 Act) “to encourage, facilitate and support”.
In allowing the IEF’s application for a judicial review of the Strategy, the Court declared that it was indeed published in breach of section 9(2)(e)(ii) and (iii) of the 2022 Act, for the above reasons.
Contact Brian Moss at our Belfast office on 02890434015 for advice and guidance.
028 9043 4015 