Court Rules NI Troubles Amnesty Law Breaches Human Rights

Facts

• A Belfast court on Wednesday ruled that granting immunity to participants involved in the decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland under the UK's controversial Troubles Legacy Act violates the European Convention on Human Rights.¹
• The Legacy Act, which came into effect last September, will end all future litigation and inquests into Troubles-era deaths and offer conditional amnesty to those who report the violence of the past to a newly created truth recovery body.²
• Justice Colton ruled that Section 19 of the Legacy Act, which contains provisions for immunity from prosecution, violates Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR, and part of the legislation, which stipulated an end to Troubles-related civil claims, breaches Article 6.³
• However, he said that the recovery body set up by the Legacy Act didn't violate human rights law, noting it was qualified to undertake effective investigations that comply with Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR due to its 'powers and wide range of discretion.'²
• This case was brought forward by relatives of victims — including Martina Dillon, Lynda McManus, and Brigid Hughes — and John McEvoy, who survived a 1992 loyalist shooting. It was backed by Amnesty International.⁴
• Over 3.5K people died between the 1960s and the 1990s during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which remained in the UK after Ireland's division in 1921.⁵

Sources: ¹Le Monde, ²Sky News, ³The Irish Times, ⁴BBC News and ⁵Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by BBC News. Immunity has always been presented as a key part of the Northern Ireland Legacy Act. With this central pillar thrown out, it's unclear how the British government will move forward with this legislation. Nevertheless, the UK remains committed to this bill and to drawing a line behind the violence of the Troubles. This legislation, as seen in similar measures in post-apartheid South Africa, offers a powerful path toward peace and reconciliation.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Irish Times. This ruling supports what victims and their families have been saying all along — that there's no evidence that the Northern Ireland Legacy Act will contribute to reconciliation in the country and may even worsen existing divisions. The UK government must withdraw this legislation and instead write a bill to support victims and their search for truth and justice. The act violates the human rights of victims of the Troubles and their families, and critics will continue to oppose this bill until the very end.

Predictions