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At a reconvened Adjudication Hearing held yesterday in the Downshire Civic Centre, Downpatrick, the Acting Commissioner, Mr Ian A Gordon OBE, having previously concluded that Councillor Patrick Clarke had breached the Local Government Code of Conduct for Councillors, imposed a sanction on him of disqualification for a period of three years for being, or becoming, a councillor.  Click here for a copy of the press release.

The Adjudication Hearing held yesterday in Downshire Civic Centre found that Councillor Patrick Clarke had failed to comply with the Northern Ireland Local Government Code of Conduct for Councillors. The Hearing was adjourned by the Acting Commissioner Ian A Gordon until 20 October 2016 to consider sanction on Councillor  Clarke; those proceedings will take place at the same venue.  Click here for a copy of the press release that issued.

A Public Adjudication Hearing to consider alleged breaches of the Councillor Code of Conduct by Councillor Patrick Clarke, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council took place on Thursday 29th September 2016 at 10am in the Downshire Civic Centre, Downpatrick.  This was the first Adjudication Hearing to be held since the Northern Ireland Assembly approved the Code of Conduct in May 2014.  Click here for a copy of the press notice … Continue reading Adjudication Hearing →

The Commissioner today published her policy on Alternative Actions. The Commissioner may take action instead of, or in addition to, conducting an investigation in dealing with an alleged breach of the Code. In order to ensure that her proposals identified all appropriate actions and provided clear guidance on the circumstances in which they may be applied, the Commissioner engaged in a 10 week consultation exercise beginning 9 November 2015 and … Continue reading Alternative Actions →