Northern Ireland's Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information (ICRIR) has registered 85 enquiries from victims, survivors and families about the possibility of an investigation into their injury or the death of a loved one. The controversial body was established under the Northern Ire
Troubles
The UK government has begun consulting on its plans to repeal and replace the previous administration's controversial legacy law. Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn yesterday held meetings with the South East Fermanagh Foundation and the Victims and Survivors Forum in Belfast.
Despite Labour's promise to repeal the Northern Ireland Legacy Act, truth, justice, acknowledgement and reparation for victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence remains elusive, writes Professor Cheryl Lawther. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 has ge
The UK government is to abandon an appeal of the Northern Ireland High Court's finding that controversial legacy legislation is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Labour government has already pledged to "repeal and replace" the previous government's Northern Ireland Troubles
The UK's Omagh bombing inquiry is to host its first public hearing tomorrow. The preliminary hearing, taking place in the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh, will consider procedural issues relating to the conduct of future public hearings and the inquiry's investigation. No witnesses will be called and no
The UK's new Labour government has confirmed it will "begin the process of repealing and replacing" the previous government's controversial legacy law. Labour's manifesto previously included a commitment to “repeal and replace” the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Ac
Human rights campaigners have urged Sir Keir Starmer to repeal the previous UK government's controversial legacy law as soon as possible. Labour's manifesto included a commitment to “repeal and replace” the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which is currentl
Labour would scrap the UK government's controversial legacy law, the party has said in its manifesto. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which the Irish government is challenging in a rare interstate application to the European Court of Human Rights, ended most legal
The UK's controversial new legacy law has come into force, bringing a premature end to dozens of inquests and investigations related to killings during the Troubles. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which the Irish government is challenging in a rare interstate app
The UK government operated a "widespread, systematic, and systemic" practice of impunity that protected security forces from sanction during the Troubles, according to a new report. The International Expert Panel on Impunity was convened by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), based at the
The Attorney General for Northern Ireland has ordered new inquests for victims of the McGurk’s Bar massacre, which will likely be prevented from going ahead due to the UK government’s controversial new legacy law. Loyalist paramilitaries bombed the pub on 4 December 1971, killing 15 civi
Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has quashed a man’s convictions for the murder of four British Army officers and membership of a proscribed organisation following its conclusion that the verdict reached in his 1976 trial was unsafe. Delivering judgment for the Court of Appeal, Lady Ch
The UK government has announced plans to develop an official history of the Troubles, with up to five historians to be granted privileged access to UK state archives. Lord Bew, from a northern unionist background, and Dr Caoimhe Nic Dháibhéid, from Cork, have been picked by ministers t
A new report on "state impunity" for human rights violations during the Troubles is to be launched in Dublin next week. The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the University of Oslo convened an international expert panel on impunity in response to the announcement of the UK government's controvers
Northern Ireland's Court of Appeal has quashed a conviction for murder in relation to the 1975 Forkhill landmine attack following a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Patrick Thompson received a life sentence with a 30-year minimum term for the murder of four British Army offic

