Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (Remedial) Order 2024

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I commend the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, for bringing forward this regret Motion. She and I have had meetings with my noble friend the Minister, the Secretary of State and the Attorney-General on the issue of legacy and on the issue of what is and is not contained in the remedial order.

The previous legislation was brought forward by the noble Lord, Lord Caine, when he led for the then Government under their mandate. My belief is that we have not yet reached a human rights-compliant place on legacy to address the needs of victims and survivors. The current legacy Act does not do it and, while the remedial order has some welcome developments, there is a need to build on it as a matter of urgency. It is my clear understanding that that should and, I hope, will be built on in the repealing legislation. Can my noble friend outline the exact process that will be involved?

The noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, spoke clearly about the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland; I grew up and went to school and university during the Troubles, and none of my contemporaries was ever involved in violence. As democratic Irish nationalists, we abhorred the use of violence for political means, because nothing could ever be achieved through that. That was proven to be the case through the negotiations that led to the Good Friday agreement. Only dialogue, negotiations and peaceful compromise achieve any political development in Northern Ireland. Many people have been killed over the years by paramilitaries, both IRA and loyalist, and there has been some state violence—you have only to look at Bloody Sunday in Derry—but raking over those coals does not achieve political progress. We have to move on.

As I have referred to, there are some welcome developments in the remedial order. It will repeal the relevant provisions on immunity from prosecution already disapplied under the Windsor Framework by the High Court and the relevant provisions relating to the termination of civil claims. These are very welcome developments. However, the remedial order does not address the Court of Appeal’s declaration of incompatibility in respect of Section 45 of the Act, which precludes complaints about police conduct from being progressed. The incompatibilities relating to ICRIR’s role in replacing inquests in respect of victim participation and the role of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in disclosure of sensitive information are also not addressed. The Secretary of State seeks to appeal these findings in the UK Supreme Court, as has been addressed by the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan. The incompatibility arising from Section 44 on the restriction of legacy inquests is also not addressed in the order.

It is a regrettable consequence of the Secretary of State’s plan to appeal that it precludes the use of Section 10 of the Human Rights Act to restore inquests in response to the NICA declaration of incompatibility in respect of Section 44 of the Act, despite the SOSNI’s claimed commitment to this outcome. There is a fear in Northern Ireland that the qualifications in the draft remedial order to end inquests infers an aim to limit their availability. I suppose tonight I am looking to hear from my noble friend the Minister what the exact position is in this case. Will all these issues be covered in the proposed repealing legislation? What is the timeframe for such legislation?

The noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, has already referred to the impact of the existing legislation on legacy that was brought forward by the previous Government and the impact that has had politically in Northern Ireland in terms of the rule of law and policing, and particularly in reference to recruitment to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. I support the PSNI, and I want to see young Catholics, both men and women, joining the PSNI and to reach the levels when we had 50:50 recruitment. I believe that, in order to redress that imbalance in recruitment, we need to go back to 50:50 recruitment. I heard last week the leader of the DUP saying that this was some form of wokeism. It is not; it is simply about trying to redress an imbalance to adhere to the rule of law and ensure there is fairness and equality. I would like to see that happening. However, the lack of young Catholics joining the PSNI can be directly correlated to the provisions in the legacy Act and the decisions on some of the potential areas for public inquiry which have been rejected, particularly with reference to the sad case of Sean Brown from County Derry who was killed in 1997.

I urge my noble friend the Minister to ensure that she is able tonight to provide us with a timeframe for the proposed repealing legislation. What will be in that repealing legislation? I know those areas may be difficult for my noble friend at this time, but I want her to provide those assurances or at least tell us that there will be a timeline that will lead to the eventual repealing of the iniquitous legacy legislation. I say “iniquitous” because that is how it is viewed in Northern Ireland; it is viewed as not the way forward. I hope that we can see the issues to do with police recruitment addressed and that we can have a police service in Northern Ireland that is capable of implementing the rule of law in a fair and impartial way—one that I want to see young people, particularly young Catholics, join.