Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has taken steps to mitigate the risk of legal challenge to the assistance agreements between the Director of Investigations and Chief Constable of PSNI proposed in his amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill on the basis of the independent investigation requirements of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

This amendment gives the Directors of Investigations the ability to formally seek assistance from a police force on specific investigative tasks - for example, where it lacks certain specialist, technical equipment or skills. It is important to note that overall responsibility and operational control over each criminal investigation will remain with that Director of Investigations.

It is therefore a matter for the relevant Director of Investigations to determine the suitability of a police force or of specific assistance on a case-by-case basis. That is why subsection 4 of the amendment requires the relevant Director to be satisfied that any assistance agreement ensures consistency with the Commission’s statutory principles including, ECHR compliance. Any assistance that is provided will be in accordance with the law governing criminal investigations, including the duty to act compatibly with any relevant ECHR rights.