RSI advises UK Parliament to scrap Northern Ireland legacy legislation

(London, 23 June 2022) Today, Rights & Security International advised the UK Parliament to scrap the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, which it believes would violate human rights laws and damage peacebuilding efforts.

Full text of the advice is available below.

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Factsheet: Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill

This factsheet provides background information on the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill. Rights & Security International believes this legislation would violate human rights and damage peacebuilding efforts, and should be scrapped.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill would do three things:

• Create an Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which would be tasked with reviewing alleged Troubles-related crimes—including deaths (clauses 2-17, 25-32);
• Establish a ‘conditional immunity’ scheme for people coming forward with evidence of Troubles-related crimes (clauses 18-22, 33-40); and
• Generate an official ‘historical record’ of the Troubles (clauses 23-24, 42-50).

The Bill likely violates international law. Under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the UK must ensure that the government effectively investigates potentially unlawful killings and other serious human rights violations. There are similar requirements in the Convention against Torture. The measures proposed in the Bill would violate these laws as they would create an approach which is:

• Non-independent: The Bill would involve the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in many aspects of the ICRIR process, in the referral of cases for review and in making a host of regulations, including on immunity. Instead, to ensure both legality and effectiveness, the mechanism should be entirely independent from the government. (clauses 9(3), 10(2), 19(1), 20, 28-32, 52).
• Inadequate: The Bill would create a mechanism which lacks sufficient scrutiny powers. Rather than creating a true ‘investigation’ – as required by the ECHR – the Bill would create a weaker ‘review’. The Bill also relies too heavily on family members to instigate the review process, and in practice many cases will very likely remain uninvestigated. The ‘conditional immunity’ scheme also proposes such a low threshold that it immunity will likely be granted in all or nearly all cases, with ICRIR lacking the power to effectively probe the truthfulness of what it is told (clauses 18-22, 33-40).
• Unable to make up for long delays in justice: The UK government has repeatedly failed to provide justice for Troubles-related crimes, making peacebuilding more difficult. These failures cannot justify further restricting victims’ and family members’ rights.

The proposals are not justified by the facts. Many of the narratives the UK government has used to promote the Bill lack evidence, and appear to ignore the views of people directly impacted by the Troubles.

• No evidence that veterans have faced ‘vexatious claims’: The government has repeatedly alleged that ‘vexatious claims’ have been brought against veterans. Yet, the government has provided no evidence to support this claim when asked, and our research suggests the claim is not justified.
• Lack of meaningful consultation: Transitional justice can only be successful with meaningful engagement by victims and survivors. The government does not appear to have listened to those most directly impacted by the Troubles or with experience of human rights in Northern Ireland.

Victims, survivors and many veterans do not want this Bill, nor do the Northern Ireland political parties. Rights & Security International and other experts have explained why these proposals will not work. Many experts have also raised viable alternatives to the measures proposed in the Bill.

We would urge you to vote against the Bill and to create an inclusive and strong mechanism for addressing the legacy of the past, which will provide accountability for victims and survivors and help build peace.