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Ireland has launched legal action against the UK over its new legislation that would offer an amnesty from prosecution for atrocities committed during Northern Ireland’s Troubles conflict.
It is only the second time that Dublin has taken a so-called inter-state case against its neighbour following a landmark case at the European Court of Human Rights 52 years ago.
London’s unilateral attempt to draw a line under the past with the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 that bans inquests into Troubles-era offences has been condemned by all Northern Irish political parties as well as victims’ groups and the Irish government.
Rights groups say the legislation is a barely concealed attempt to shield soldiers from prosecution.
The Council of Europe and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have also expressed serious reservations about the act.
“I regret that we find ourselves in a position where such a choice had to be made,” Micheál Martin, Ireland’s foreign minister, said in a statement.
Ireland has said it believes the act is “incompatible with the United Kingdom’s obligations” under the European Convention on Human Rights. Respect for the ECHR is a “fundamental requirement” of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 that ended three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland, Martin said.
The UK’s Northern Ireland Office had no immediate comment but has said it believed the act is compliant with the ECHR.
The UK government has argued that since a quarter of a century has passed since the Troubles ended, it is time to be realistic and that no alternative solution is available, which Dublin disputes.
“The decision by the British government not to proceed with the 2014 Stormont House Agreement and instead pursue legislation unilaterally, without effective engagement with the legitimate concerns that we, and many others, raised left us with few options,” Martin said.
The UK government in January 2020 reaffirmed its commitment to seek prompt implementation of the legacy provisions of that deal within 100 days but did not do so. Instead, it decided to legislate unilaterally.
Republican paramilitaries fighting to oust British rule of Northern Ireland, pro-UK loyalist gunmen and British security forces all committed atrocities during the three decades-long conflict.
The legislation sets up an Independent Commission for Information Recovery and Reconciliation but Martin said its reviews were “not an adequate substitute” for police investigations.
Alyson Kilpatrick, chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, told the Financial Times she “welcomed” the decision but individual cases currently before the courts would have to continue.
The High Court in Belfast is considering a number of cases that challenge specific aspects of the legislation and a ruling is expected within weeks.
