Victims and human rights groups to give evidence on Troubles legacy proposals
6 June 2022
Victims and survivors representatives and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commissioner will give their views on the Government’s latest proposals to tackle the legacy of the Troubles at the first Northern Ireland Affairs Committee evidence session on the Bill.
- Parliament TV: Watch the session live
- Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill
- Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Purpose of the session
As drafted, the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill announced last month provides immunity from prosecution on the condition of full cooperation with the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), established by the legislation as an information gathering body. MPs will ask victims and survivors groups represented by WAVE Trauma Centre, the new Victims and Survivors Commissioner Ian Jeffers and the South East Fermanagh Foundation what they think of the proposals.
There are questions too over whether or not the Bill complies with the European Convention on Human Rights to which the UK is a signatory. Ahead of the Bill’s Second Reading vote in the Commons, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission complained that they had had little warning from the Government on the plans, adding that the proposals were ‘almost certainly fatally flawed’. Alyson Kilpatrick and Dr Hannah Russell of the Commission will give evidence to the Committee at the session.
Witnesses:
Tuesday 7 June 2022
from 09.30am
- Alyson Kilpatrick, Chief Commissioner, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission;
- Dr Hannah Russell, Senior Policy and Research officer, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
from approx 10.15am
- Ian Jeffers, Commissioner, Commission for Victims and Survivors;
- Sandra Peake, Chief Executive Officer, WAVE Trauma Centre;
- Peter Murtagh, Advocacy Support Manager, South East Fermanagh Foundation.
Further information
Image credit: Parliamentary Copyright