Hilary Benn

The new Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will make good on a promise to “repeal and replace” the previous government’s controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, it said yesterday.

It comes after the UK and Irish governments last month launched a new joint framework for dealing with legacy issues.

The new legislation will establish a reformed Legacy Commission with new information-sharing arrangements with Irish authorities.

It will also introduce “new protections and safeguards specifically designed and put in place for veterans who served in Northern Ireland during the Troubles”, the UK government said.

The same bill will also retrospectively legalise the detention of former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and others in the 1970s in order to prevent the payment of compensation to them following the UK Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in R v Adams [2020] UKSC 19.

The government said it would “address the UK Supreme Court ruling in Adams regarding the application of the Carltona principle in the context of interim custody orders, making clear that such orders could be made by junior ministers as well as by the secretary of state”.

In addition to the new legislation, the government yesterday introduced a draft remedial order to remove from statute the immunity scheme previously ruled to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn said: “The government will now put into legislation the commitments that we have made both as part of the joint framework and to our Armed Forces veterans.

“The purpose of all this is to help families who have waited too long to find answers about what happened to their loved ones during the Troubles.

“This is our opportunity to deliver on this final part of the Good Friday Agreement and help Northern Ireland politics and broader society to find those answers and move forward.”

Al Carns, the UK’s minister for the armed forces, added: “We promised our veterans who served with honour in Northern Ireland that we would put proper protections in place, and today’s legislation delivers on that commitment.

“After the false promises of the last government, we are putting in place real, workable protections for veterans that the failed Legacy Act never did.

“We will not allow the process, like so many times before, to become the punishment for our veterans.

“Having served for 24 years and as a serving reservist myself, I understand the importance of avoiding an endless cycle of investigations.

“These robust safeguards will ensure the rights of those who served their nation so honourably are protected whilst providing families with a fair and transparent system to seek answers.”

Ireland’s Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister, Simon Harris, welcomed the introduction of the legislation.

“This bill is a vital first step in implementing commitments made in the Joint Framework on the Legacy of the Troubles, published by the two governments on 19 September 2025,” he said.

“That framework outlines in detail the steps that must be taken to ensure a root and branch reform of the Northern Ireland legacy mechanisms established by the previous British government.

“I also welcome the speed at which the British government has brought forward the bill. This demonstrates the seriousness with which the secretary of state and his colleagues are approaching this essential work.”

Mr Harris added: “I will be examining the bill closely in the coming days.

“As I have said consistently, timely and faithful implementation of the joint framework, by both governments, is what is needed to ensure that we can finally put in place a comprehensive legacy infrastructure that is ECHR compliant, and can secure the confidence of victims and survivors of the Troubles.”