Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein is mounting a legal challenge against the ruling that he and party leader, Mr Gerry Adams, must swear an oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth before they can take their seats in the House of Commons. An application for judicial review has been lodged in the High Court in Belfast by solicitors acting for Mr McGuinness, the MP for Mid-Ulster, and the party's chief negotiator in the peace process. However, before the case can go ahead a judge has to grant leave and no date has yet been fixed.
Mr McGuinness is seeking a declaration that the oath requirement is incompatible with his constitutional right as an MP, including his right of freedom of expression and the rights of his constituents.
He claims the oath results in unequal treatment between those MPs and their constituents who hold Irish republican views and those who do not.
The papers claim the Speaker of the House, Ms Betty Boothroyd, in her ruling on May 14th, was guilty of procedural impropriety because she failed to give consideration to the terms of Mr McGuinness's democratic mandate and his responsibility to take his seat.
Speaker Boothroyd is also accused of acting in a way which discriminated against Mr McGuinness on the basis of his Irish republican political beliefs.
Commenting on the court challenge, Mr McGuinness said: "There is an absence of equality for Irish nationalists under British law and within the British parliamentary system and constitution.
"I intend challenging the legality of the oath and demanding its abolition. It clearly discriminates against Irish nationalists and republicans who dispute British jurisdiction over this part of Ireland. It also denies to us our right to freedom of expression."
Mr McGuinness added: "Irish republican MPs are not second class. Those we represent are not second class. The British government and the British parliamentary establishment must accept the fundamental principle of equality."