Northern Ireland attorney general applies for leave to appeal to top court to review ruling against Ashers Bakery in Belfast

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Northern Ireland’s attorney general has applied for leave to appeal to the supreme court in London to review a ruling which found a Belfast bakery guilty of discrimination for refusing to bake a pro-gay marriage cake.

The intervention by John Larkin, QC the region’s top law officer, means the supreme court may review last month’s decision in the court of appeal in Belfast, which upheld a guilty verdict against Ashers Bakery. The Northern Ireland appeal court will hear the attorney general’s application next Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office confirmed Larkin had used powers granted to him via the Northern Ireland devolution settlement to seek a hearing in the highest court in the UK to reconsider the judgments of both the high court and appeal court in the province.

She told the Belfast Telegraph on Wednesday: “I can confirm that an application for leave to appeal to the supreme court has been listed for hearing on 22 November.”

This is the second time Larkin has intervened in the case. An earlier appeal this year was suspended on a point of law that Larkin raised.

In October, appeal judges in Belfast upheld a judgment made last year that Ashers Bakery had discriminated against a customer on the grounds of sexual orientation.

• This article was amended on 17 November 2016 to correct and clarify details of the 22 November hearing. An earlier version said incorrectly that it was at the supreme court.