By AFP

Copyright dawn

HILLSBOROUGH: The UK government on Friday announced it would replace controversial legislation designed to draw a line under issues stemming from three decades of violence in Northern Ireland, paving the way for investigations into killings to restart.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, 2023, came into force last year under the UK’s previous Conservative government, halting any inquests, civil cases and criminal prosecutions linked to the “Troubles”.

The act, which Dublin sued London over, was aimed at promoting reconciliation, almost 30 years after the violence that claimed more than 3,600 lives ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

But it was fiercely criticised by victims and bereaved families who said it denied them justice because it offered conditional immunity to some suspects, including British soldiers and paramilitaries, if they cooperated with enquiries.

“The UK government will repeal and replace the Legacy Act, including ending the undeliverable promise of immunity for terrorists and put in place six new protections and rights for veterans,” London said in a statement.

The new legislation will allow “the small number of inquests that were stopped in their tracks by the Legacy Act to resume”, the government added.

The agreement follows a year of talks on resolving differences over Troubles legacy issues, which frayed Anglo-Irish relations in particular under the Tories’ rule.

Britain’s Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn said the new framework offers an opportunity to deal with the “unfinished business” of the Good Friday Agreement.

Irish deputy premier Simon Harris said the deal laid the ground for a “profound transformation” in how the legacy of the Troubles is handled.

The plan includes the renaming and reforming of a controversial body – the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) set up under the 2023 Legacy Act which came into effect in May last year.

The scores of civil cases and inquests that were halted included many that allegedly involved British security forces as well as paramilitaries, although this provision was later struck down after legal action from victims’ groups.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2025