Government veto on Troubles commission disclosure ruled unlawful

A Government veto power over what sensitive material can be disclosed by a new Troubles investigative commission is unlawful, the Court of Appeal has found.

The work of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) does also not provide for effective participation by families of victims of the conflict, the appeal court judges in Belfast ruled.

The Court of Appeal part allowed an appeal taken by several Troubles victims against the body created by the last government’s contentious Legacy Act.

The appeal was mounted after a High Court judge ruled in February that the commission did not contravene human rights laws.

The Court of Appeal judges dismissed some grounds of the appeal, such as the fact the commission is bound by a five-year time limit on accepting investigation requests.

But they allowed the ground that argued that the commission is incompatible with human rights laws in relation to the power held by the Northern Ireland Secretary to withhold sensitive state files from bereaved families.

The judges also found that the commission’s process did not allow for sufficient participation by relatives and their legal representatives.

Another appeal against a different element of the same February judgment – mounted by the Government – sought to clarify the legal implications of a commitment contained within the post-Brexit Windsor Framework.

The framework commits to protect the human rights entitlements provided for in Northern Ireland’s historic Good Friday peace agreement.

The High Court found that the Legacy Act breached that commitment.

The Appeal Court dismissed the Government appeal in relation to the Windsor Framework and upheld the original High Court judgment.