A judge has recused himself from the appeal case of the first person to be convicted under Northern Ireland's abortion clinic buffer zone laws.
County Court Judge Ciaran Moynagh heard the appeal of Claire Brennan on 2 September but removed himself from the case this week after she submitted a formal complaint citing concerns about the perception of bias.
Judge Moynagh was previously awarded Humanist of the Year by Humanists UK for his legal activism on abortion rights and same-sex marriage, and has taken on high profile 'abortion rights' cases.
While he denied bias, Judge Moynagh concluded that "in recognition of the importance of maintaining public confidence in the impartial administration of justice and to ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done, I have decided out of an abundance of caution to recuse myself from further involvement in this matter".
A new hearing under a different judge has now been scheduled for 27 November.
Brennan, a Roman Catholic mother of four, was arrested in October 2023 for reciting the Lord’s Prayer and holding a sign reading “Pray to End Abortion” outside Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. She was within the hospital's 'safe access zone' at the time, which prohibits any act deemed to “influence” individuals within 150 metres of an abortion clinic.
Speaking after the judge's recusal, she said that the public "must have confidence that justice is being administered impartially".
“All I wanted was a fair trial. As soon as I discovered his past activism on abortion, I knew that this had to be exposed and that it was simply not right that he should be presiding over my case," she said, adding that she wanted "the highest level of scrutiny into Judge Moynagh’s involvement in my case".
"I took a peaceful stand outside Causeway Hospital to pray for the unborn and to defend the freedom of Christians to express their faith in public," she continued.
"These censorship zones are a dangerous overreach that criminalise compassion and silence prayer. I am challenging this law not just for myself, but for the protection of the unborn and for the future of religious freedom in Northern Ireland.”
Brennan is being supported in her appeal by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC). The organisation's chief executive, Andrea Williams, called the 'safe access zones' “censorship zones” and said they threaten free speech and religious liberty.
“Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done. Judicial impartiality is the bedrock of a fair society, and it is right that Judge Moynagh has now recused himself," she said.
"However, it is extraordinary and unprecedented for a judge to be recused in such circumstances. There must now be serious scrutiny of how this situation was allowed to arise."
She went on to say that Judge Moynagh should not be allowed to preside over future abortion-related cases in Northern Ireland.
She continued, "The so-called ‘censorship zones’ represent a chilling attack on freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to peaceful protest. They criminalise compassion and silence dissent. The arrest of Claire Brennan for quietly praying the Lord’s Prayer should serve as a wake-up call for our nation."
