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High Court confirms ICRIR’S independence and ability to conduct ECHR compliant investigations

Published:

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) has issued the following statement in response to the Belfast High Court’s judgment into the domestic legal challenges against the UK Government’s Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.

An ICRIR spokesperson said:

In its judgment, the Court has confirmed that the Commission is independent and is capable of carrying out investigations which are compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Commission is therefore properly and lawfully established. 

In particular, in relation to information gathering powers, the judge made clear that the Commission “has wide powers and a wide range of discretion/flexibility to carry out its reviews.”

In addition, the court said that having considered the disclosure powers of the ICRIR and the obligations of the state it seemed the powers of disclosure are article 2/3 compliant and an improvement on the situation in relation to inquests which have proven to have limitations in terms of disclosure issues which have been the primary reason for delays.

We will study the court’s judgment in detail and seek to reflect this as we refine our proposals to carry out independent investigations from this summer.”