The Joint Committee on Human Rights has announced it will carry
out scrutiny of the proposal for a draft Northern Ireland
Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (Remedial) Order
2024.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act
2023 was introduced to address the legacy of the Troubles and
promote reconciliation, however its compatibility with the
European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was challenged in
legal proceedings.
Judgments by the Northern Ireland High Court and the Court of
Appeal found provisions in the Act were incompatible with the
ECHR. This included measures providing for conditional immunity
and prohibiting prosecutions, limits on civil actions for
Troubles related events, and rules on disclosing sensitive
material.
The Labour Government included a commitment to repeal and replace
the Act in its 2024 general election manifesto. It has now
brought forward a remedial order to remedy some of the
incompatibilities with the ECHR, while also promising to bring
forward further primary legislation to address further legacy
issues at some point in the future.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is required under Standing
Orders to scrutinise proposed remedial orders and report its
findings to Parliament. It must report its findings within 60
sitting days of the remedial order being proposed.
Terms of reference
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is interested in submissions
which address the following
Questions. The deadline for submissions is 20 January 2025.
Further information about the inquiry and how to submit evidence
is available here.
- Would the Proposed Remedial Order
rectify all of the incompatibilities with the European
Convention on Human Rights which were identified by the High
Court in Re Dillon and Others
[2024] NIKB 11?
- Would the Proposed Remedial Order
rectify the incompatibility with the European
Convention on Human Rights regarding the bringing of new civil
cases which was identified
by the Court of Appeal in Re Dillon and Others [2024] NICA 59?
- Are there any reasons the Committee
should not recommend that a draft order in the same
terms be laid before both Houses of Parliament?
- What impact, if any, would the
Proposed Remedial Order have on the UK's implementation
of the European Court of Human Rights' judgments in the McKerr
group of cases?
