Paul Kennedy withdraws from MLA standards commissioner role

Paul Kennedy was due to take over the role on Tuesday

The man nominated to become the new standards commissioner for NI assembly members has withdrawn from the process.

Retired solicitor Paul Kennedy was due to take over the role on Tuesday.

MLAs were set to approve his nomination but a debate was unexpectedly called off at the last minute.

On Tuesday evening, an assembly spokesperson said: "This afternoon, Mr Paul Kennedy informed the Assembly Commission that he wished to withdraw from the recruitment competition."

"The assembly commission will now seek to identify another candidate as soon as possible," the added.

It is not clear why Mr Kennedy has withdrawn his name.

The assembly commission will have to continue the process of seeking to nominate someone to the position - almost three years since the last standards commissioner stood down.

Douglas Bain stood down from the post in 2017

The role of the commissioner is to act independently to investigate formal complaints against MLAs for alleged breaches of the code of conduct.

But the post has been empty since Douglas Bain stood down in 2017 after his five-year term ended.

It is understood the recruitment process to replace Mr Bain, in which Mr Kennedy was successful, was carried out in 2016/17 - but the role could not be filled at that time because the power-sharing executive had collapsed.

Since then, complaints have continued to be made but there has been no-one to investigate them.

It is believed a new commissioner will be able to retrospectively investigate any complaints made against MLAs before his term begins, so long as they were submitted within six months of the alleged breach of the code.

However, recommending sanctions remains a matter for Stormont's standards and privileges committee and it is up to the assembly to impose any recommendations.

Who is Paul Kennedy?

Mr Kennedy has been a qualified solicitor for 37 years, engaged in private practice for 32 of those years. He has been principal of his own firm for 28 years.

The assembly commission previously said it was "confident" that his experience leaves him well-equipped to perform the role.

Since retiring from general practice, Mr Kennedy has taken on other roles, including membership of the Veterans Advisory and Pensions Committee for Northern Ireland.