Belfast court rules against granting immunity for ‘Troubles’ violence

A court in Belfast ruled on Wednesday that a new British law granting people immunity from prosecution for crimes committed during Northern Ireland’s bloody sectarian conflict – known as the Troubles – would be a breach of human rights.

The UK government introduced the legislation, known as the Legacy Act, last year, with the aim of “promoting reconciliation” in the region, despite opposition from every political party there. The law would halt all investigations, civil actions and cold-case reviews of Troubles-related cases that are not resolved by May 1 and refer them to an independent committee.

Crucially, the law also includes provisions for conditional amnesty for people suspected of crimes committed during the Troubles, including serious crimes.

The High Court decision in Belfast on Wednesday was the result of a judicial review carried out after victims and families affected by the Troubles took the issue to court. Judge Adrian Colton, who made the rulingsaid he believed that granting immunity from prosecution under the law would conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights.

While the complex ruling is unlikely to affect Britain’s ability to implement parts of the law as early as May 1, legal experts say it is a major blow to the country’s already fragile Conservative government, whose support in the polls has fallen before. election that will take place next year.

The Troubles, the decades-long sectarian conflict between Catholic and Protestant communities that enveloped Northern Ireland from 1968 to 1998, saw some 3,600 people killed in bombings and shootings until the Good Friday peace deal ended the violence.

The conflict still casts a long shadow over Northern Ireland despite recent decades of peace, with many victims’ relatives still seeking justice and many perpetrators of violence never having been held to account. But there has long been a fragmented approach to the unlawful killings, with different legal avenues, investigations and investigations led by different agencies.

The new legislation has alarmed rights groups and was widely criticized by the public in Northern Ireland, which is part of Great Britain, and denounced by the government of the neighboring Republic of Ireland.

There were concerns that the law could derail years of carefully managed peace-building and diplomacy between Britain and Ireland, at a particularly fraught time when Brexit has strained their relationship.

The law also sparked several legal battles, including judicial review. In December, Ireland announced it would challenge Britain over the law at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. The court is a tribunal of the Council of Europe, of which both Ireland and Great Britain are members.

The British government is likely to appeal Wednesday’s ruling to the Court of Appeal for Northern Ireland and possibly to the British Supreme Court, lawyers involved in other cases related to the legislation say.

Christopher Stanley, a lawyer at KRW Law, one of the firms acting on behalf of relatives of victims of the conflict, welcomed the verdict.

“Politically, this is becoming an increasingly problematic issue for the UK government in an election year,” Mr Stanley said. “This is a bad day for the British government. It is a day of some peace for relatives of victims and survivors of violent conflict.”

But he also said it was “not a victory for families as the British government will challenge the findings.”

Others used the ruling to urge the British government to reconsider the Legacy Act.

“This morning’s High Court decision confirms what any honest observer knows, which is that the Government’s existing legislation is incompatible with human rights,” said Claire Hanna, an MP representing South Belfast. “It puts the needs of perpetrators above the needs of victims and it is not supported by any party in Northern Ireland or across the island of Ireland.”

But the government has pledged to push through the law, said Christopher Heaton-Harris, secretary of state for Northern Ireland. “We remain committed to implementing the Legacy Act,” he said.