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The report said it welcomed the commitment to co-operation between the two governments (Liam McBurney\/PA)<\/p>\nThe cross-party Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has published the report which it said highlights concerns from victims and veterans over new Westminster legislation aimed at addressing legacy issues.<\/p>\n
The UK and Irish governments unveiled their new legacy framework in September.<\/p>\n
As part of that, the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill is expected to reach committee stage at Westminster in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
The Bill, which will repeal significant portions of the previous government\u2019s Legacy Act, includes plans for a\u00a0commission\u00a0to investigate\u00a0Troubles-related killings and a separate information recovery body.<\/p>\n
The framework also included a commitment from the Irish Government for the \u201cfullest possible\u201d co-operation with the new\u00a0legacy\u00a0commission and the creation of a dedicated\u00a0legacy\u00a0unit within the Irish police force, An Garda Siochana.<\/p>\n
The NIAC report said it welcomed the commitment on co-operation over legacy by the two governments.<\/p>\n
It added: \u201cIreland now needs to demonstrate its own commitment to establishing and completing human rights-compliant investigations, underpinned by legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lack of clarity on the remit, independence and oversight of the proposed legacy unit in the Garda.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictim-survivors and other stakeholders will no doubt look for the establishment as soon as possible of structures comparable to those in the UK, to ensure confidence in the legacy process as a whole across the UK and Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report said: \u201cWe would urge Dublin to move at pace to show their commitment and mutual good faith, and maximise confidence and the likelihood of successful outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report said it welcomed the commitment to co-operation between the two governments (Liam McBurney\/PA)<\/p>\n
Relating to the proposed new legacy commission, the report said the UK Government must address a range of concerns.<\/p>\n
It said these included worries over the lack of any specific requirement for the investigations process to be European Convention on Human Rights-compliant.<\/p>\n
The report added: \u201cThe commission is due to assume greater responsibilities and those providing it with information such as the PSNI and others will face new demands on their records.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout additional support for these organisations, these reforms risk failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report said there \u201cmust be fairness under the law\u201d for veterans and safeguards to \u201censure that investigations do not become punitive in nature\u201d.<\/p>\n
It added: \u201cThe measures referred to by the Government as six new protections may go some way to address concerns raised by former armed forces personnel, but in packaging these as protections \u2013 rather than safeguards available to all \u2013 the Government risks undermining trust in this process among the very groups in which it hopes to instil confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreviously defective investigations should be reopened only where necessary for the purposes of ECHR compatibility or owing to new evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Committee chairwoman Tonia Antoniazzi said the report provided an opportunity for the Government \u201cto address the issues that continue to exercise victim-survivors, veterans and others about their plans\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added there is a \u201cgolden opportunity\u201d for the new legacy commission to have \u201cthe trust and authority it needs to operate across all communities\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Antoniazzi added: \u201cTo do so, however, the Government must listen to concerns about its operation, governance and oversight, and come forward with details on how it intends to safeguard its independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo account for the passage of time, the Government must also expand its definition of \u2018close family member\u2019 and ensure the rights and voices of victims and survivors are properly represented.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo ensure public confidence, more detail is also needed on the Government\u2019s role in balancing information disclosure with national security, and the information-sharing relationship between the legacy commission and the new independent commission on information retrieval.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe agreement of the Joint Framework with the Republic of Ireland shows a welcome commitment to cross-border co-operation, but the Irish Government now needs to step up when it comes to establishing a legacy architecture of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n
A UK Government spokesperson said the recommendations in the report would be carefully considered.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson added: \u201cThe Troubles Bill will enable victims, families and survivors to seek answers through a reformed and fully independent Legacy Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time, this will include full information-sharing arrangements with the Irish authorities, for which the Irish Government will legislate as necessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Troubles Bill will also put in place new protections that are designed specifically for any veteran asked to engage with a legacy process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a duty of care to those who served in our armed and security forces, and ministers are engaging with the veterans community, as well as with families and victims groups, to ensure the legislation can command the widest possible confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The cross-party Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has published the report which it said highlights concerns from victims and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-604460","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115641987606946030","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}