Britain is in danger of yielding to pressure from the Republic of Ireland and putting veterans who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles back at risk of being hauled in front of courts, leading legal experts have warned. They fear the Government is failing to challenge the Republic’s “double standards and hypocrisy” when it comes to investigating crimes during this time when the IRA fought its terrorist campaign.
The Policy Exchange think tank is concerned Labour is on the verge of scrapping the “conditional amnesty” established by the Tories’ so-called Legacy Act without “securing anything in return” from Dublin.
The Legacy Act drew cross-party criticism in Northern Ireland but the think tank cautions its repeal could damage the peace process. Efforts focused on “truth-seeking and reconciliation” could be replaced with “a flawed adversarial approach that centres on investigations and prosecutions”, it warns.
Oxford University’s Professor Richard Ekins, one of the authors of the new paper, writes: “The UK Government risks boxing itself into a corner, yielding to pressure from the Irish Government to reopen prosecutions and wrongly assuming that this is the only course of action that is legally permissible. Ministers must think again about what policy would best promote reconciliation in Northern Ireland and would treat UK veterans fairly. That might mean either a conditional amnesty, like the Legacy Act 2023, or a categorical amnesty, of the kind that Labour promoted in 2005.”
Admiral Lord West, a Labour peer former head of the Royal Navy said: “The latest proposal in relation to Northern Ireland legacy cases looks set to strip away hard-won procedural protections from those who served during the Troubles. I agree with Policy Exchange that the Government must think again if we are not to perpetuate a damaging cycle, which is not fair to veterans and is not likely to promote reconciliation in the province.”
The think tank insists that at a “minimum the Irish Government should be challenged in relation to its failures over many years to investigate and prosecute legacy cases”.
The authors of a new paper – who include Professor Ekins, former first parliamentary counsel Sir Stephen Laws and the University of Surrey’s Conor Casey – state: “While the Government may flatter itself that it is handling legacy issues with more care and nuance than did the previous Government, the public record to date tells a different story. It is far from clear that the Secretary of State has secured any concessions from Ireland in the present negotiations.”
Dealing with the legacy of the Troubles remains a focus of controversy (Image: Mirrorpix)
The Conservatives’ Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act gave the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery power to grant conditional immunity to people who come forward with accurate information. The Irish Government brought a case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing it breached the European Convention of Human Rights.
Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said: “It beggars belief that at the same time Labour are offering British troops for potential peacekeeping in Ukraine, their plans to repeal our legacy laws risk a new era of lawfare against those who served our country peacekeeping in Northern Ireland, decades ago. Given the threats we face and ongoing challenges with recruitment and retention, the last thing the Army needs is morale shattered by renewed vexatious claims. Labour must urgently change course and back our veterans.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The last Government’s scheme would have given terrorists immunity from prosecution, including for the murder of British civilians and soldiers. That scheme was widely opposed and rejected by our domestic courts, before this Government had even been elected.
“Any Government coming in would have had to put in place new, deliverable legislation. The Northern Ireland Secretary and Defence Secretary are committed to a fair system that will enable families – including over 200 Armed Forces families – to seek the answers they deserve.
“As part of this there will be new and effective protections for veterans. We will ensure no veteran who properly carried out their duty is forced to face an endless cycle of legal uncertainty. Any agreement between the UK and Irish governments would have to include firm commitments from both governments.”
