Ireland

Northern Ireland inquests involving 74 deaths during Troubles will not go ahead after Legacy Act takes effect

New and contentious legislation the subject of legal challenge in courts in Belfast and Europe

The Legacy Act has proved contentious as has its provision of immunity for crimes committed during the Troubles. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Freya McClements
Wed May 1 2024 - 06:00

A total of 36 inquests involving the deaths of 74 people during the Northern Ireland Troubles will not go ahead after the UK government’s controversial Legacy Act came into effect at midnight on Tuesday.

The legislation was strongly condemned by victims and survivors groups, human rights organisations, politicians and members of the legal profession, with Amnesty International describing it as “a cliff edge for truth, justice, and accountability for victims of the Northern Ireland conflict” and a “dangerous international precedent”.

The Legacy Act ended previous methods of investigating the past and, from Wednesday transfers responsibility for all Troubles inquiries to a new investigative body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

The new law is the subject of legal challenge in courts in Belfast and Europe and its most contentious provision, that of a conditional amnesty for perpetrators, is in limbo pending the outcome.

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Legacy inquests sat right until the close of business on Tuesday, with coroners expressing their disappointment the legislation had prevented them from completing their work.

A special sitting on Saturday enabled the inquest into the deaths of five people killed by the British army in the Springhill/Westrock area of west Belfast in 1972 to complete hearing evidence hours before the legislation came into effect.

On Tuesday the attorney general ordered a fresh inquest into the killing of Billy McGreanery in Derry in 1971, one of several new inquiries she has ordered in recent days which have no prospect of being heard under the new legislation.

According to figures provided to The Irish Times by the Lady Chief Justice’s office, it is one of 18 new inquest referrals relating to the deaths of 36 people that will not proceed because of the Act.

Fourteen inquests into the deaths of 33 people, which had commenced but which did not reach the findings stage before the May 1st deadline have been cut short, as well as four inquests involving five deaths which had not yet been allocated to a coroner.

The solicitor for the McGreanery family, Gary Duffy of KRW Law, said the attorney general’s decision less than 24 hours before the Act cut-off date was an example of how such investigative processes “can and do work” for families, whereas the new legislation “puts us into a conflict-resolution dark era”.

The ICRIR, which opened to contact from the public on Wednesday morning, will investigate deaths and serious harm related to the Troubles at the request of relatives and provide them with a report. It also has the power to refer cases to prosecutors.

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said the Police Service of Northern Ireland would ensure the ICRIR was given “unfettered access to all of our material” relating to its cases.

Where inquests had run out of time or been stopped, said Mr Boutcher, he wanted to stress to families that if they choose to approach the ICRIR “we will provide any and all material requested by the commission without condition and without redaction”.

A new “ICRIR hub” has been created to process any such requests for information held by the police, said the Chief Constable.

Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he encouraged “all those who continue to seek information, accountability and acknowledgment regarding what happened to them or their loved ones to engage wholeheartedly with the ICRIR.

“If the independent commission is given an opportunity to demonstrate its effectiveness, I am confident that it will deliver results,” he said.

Ulster Human Rights Watch, which represents several families bereaved during the Troubles, said it was “prepared to engage with the commission and we will judge it on its results and how effective it is in achieving its objectives”.

Freya McClements

Freya McClements

Freya McClements is Northern Editor of The Irish Times

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