Patrick Finucane

Debate between Baroness Chapman of Darlington and Lord Caine

Tuesday 30th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Caine]

To ask His Majesty’s Government, further to the Court of Appeal judgment of 11 July, and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s meeting with Mrs Geraldine Finucane on 25 July, (1) when they expect to announce a decision on how they intend to satisfy their Article 2 obligations in the case of Patrick Finucane and (2) whether they plan to do so via an Oral Statement to Parliament.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Baroness Chapman of Darlington) (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Caine, for his Question. On 11 July, the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal delivered its judgment on the previous Government’s appeal against the Northern Ireland High Court’s judgment in the case of the death of Patrick Finucane. The Court of Appeal dismissed the previous Government’s appeal, finding that there still has not been an Article 2-compliant investigation into the death of Mr Finucane. The Secretary of State met Mrs Geraldine Finucane and her family in Belfast to hear her views first hand on the circumstances surrounding the appalling murder of her husband and to discuss next steps for responding to the court’s judgment. The Secretary of State wants to ensure that the Government make a decision about the way forward on this case as soon as possible and that this decision takes account of the views of Mrs Finucane. As part of this, the Secretary of State has asked the Northern Ireland Office to examine the options available regarding the establishment of an Article 2-compliant investigation into the death of Mr Finucane. The Government will provide further information on their response to the court in due course and are happy to commit today to update Parliament via an Oral Statement when a decision has been made.

[Lord Caine (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness. The murder of Patrick Finucane was a vile atrocity for which there could never be any justification whatever and I stand by the apology that I helped to draft for my noble friend Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton when he was Prime Minister in 2012. Now that the Government have decided that they will not scrap the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, can the noble Baroness confirm that referral of the Finucane case to that body remains an option, given that the High Court ruled in February that it is independent and capable of carrying out ECHR-compliant investigations? I welcome what she said about updating Parliament via an Oral Statement and we will hold her to that.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Caine, for his words and concur with what he said about the apology from the noble Lord, Lord Cameron. Noble Lords will understand that the Secretary of State wishes to engage fully with the Finucane family and others in respect of finding the right way forward at this stage, but I note what the noble Lord said about the commission.