Joint Committee on Human Rights supports RSI’s analysis that Legacy Bill would violate international law

Today, the Joint Committee of Human Rights agreed with RSI’s legal analysis and advised the UK government to ‘reconsider its whole approach’ to the legacy of the conflict in Northern Ireland frequently referred to as ‘the Troubles’.

In its analysis of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill (the ‘Legacy Bill’), the JCHR explains:

‘We have serious doubts that this Bill as drafted is compatible with Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) (the right to life and the prohibition of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, respectively), as well as Articles 6 and 13 (the right to a fair trial and the right to an effective remedy).’

In reaching this conclusion, the JCHR supports RSI’s analysis that the Bill, if enacted, ‘would violate the ECHR’, and it ‘agree[s]... that this Bill as drafted is unlikely to comply with the Convention.’ The Committee cited RSI’s submission in its report.

RSI has argued that the Bill, if enacted, would:

• Breach international and domestic human rights laws;
• Infringe on the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, jeopardising the fragile and ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland;
• Further deny the dignity of victims and survivors who have already waited decades for truth and justice; and
• Set a harmful international model for impunity following a conflict, including a lack of accountability for killings and torture.

RSI will continue to advocate for the UK government to drop the Legacy Bill.

For more information, see the full JCHR report (here), and RSI’s research (here and here).