UK Parliament / Open data

Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill

My Lords, I am as always very grateful to those who have contributed. In direct response to the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, I can assure her that the DoJ in Northern Ireland was consulted on these amendments.

I am grateful again to the noble Lord, Lord Faulks, for the very constructive way in which he has engaged on these matters. With respect to commencement, it is the Government’s intention that this should commence at the same time as the Clause 42 prohibition in the Bill relating to the ending of civil proceedings: that is, two months after Royal Assent, which is the normal commencement date. We believe that a consistent approach is important, particularly when bringing forward an amendment that is about ensuring legal clarity.

The Government believe that there is little or no prospect of compensation claims being hurried through in the two months between Royal Assent and commencement. To give an illustrative example of the pace of such claims, there has to date, to our knowledge, been no payment of compensation to anyone bringing a claim as a direct result of the Supreme Court judgment in 2020; nor are the Government aware of any of these cases being close to awarding compensation. This includes the significant cohort of civil claims in this area, which remain at a relatively early stage.

On the issue of consequential powers raised by the noble Lord and by the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, in her remarks, the power exists for the new provisions. I assure the House that this is solely for the purpose of consequential amendments and not to be used to alter fundamentally the policy intent of the provisions within the amendments, or their scope in bringing relevant proceedings to an end. It is intended to be very limited indeed.

5.15 pm

I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, for his contribution. He raised a number of points but did not direct any questions. I am quite relieved at that, given his great legal experience and expertise, whereas I am a humble history graduate standing at the Dispatch Box. His comments brought out that there is a need for greater clarity in the law in this area, and that is indeed what the Government are seeking to provide with these amendments.

Finally, I should say that we are undertaking a full analysis, which will inform the Government’s view of the defensibility of the new provisions in the event of any legal challenge on convention rights grounds. However, the Government believe that the clauses created by these amendments are consistent with convention rights and that any interference with the rights of those involved can be justified.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
831 c1146 
Session
2022-23
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
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