Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

Recommendation 20

2nd Report – The Government's new approach to addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland Published 1 Dec 2025 Addressed to Northern Ireland Executive; Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Affairs Committee The Government's new approach to addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Recommendation (the committee's words)

By introducing what it refers to as six new protections for veterans, the Government has attempted to address concerns among former military personnel and others that legacy investigations, whether leading to prosecution or not, have amounted to punishment in themselves. To ensure fairness, however, Ministers have necessarily extended these ‘protections’ to all those engaging in the process. In doing so, they risk over-selling these provisions as guarantees and therefore undermining trust among the very groups in which they hope to instil confidence. Similarly, in pursuit of truth and justice, the new provisions must ensure the effective investigation of legacy cases including, with clear and appropriate safeguards for all, the reopening of previously defective investigations, only where necessary for the purposes of ECHR compatibility or owing to new evidence. (Conclusion, Paragraph 138)

From: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, 2nd Report – The Government's new approach to addressing the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland (HC 586), 1 December 2025

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 12 February 2026 (deadline 1 February 2026).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government responds to the Committee's recommendations on the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill by stating that the Bill will deliver "the necessary reform of the Commission", while saying it will keep engaging and consider improvements as the Bill progresses.

On a statutory ECHR-compliance requirement, the government says that putting such a requirement in primary legislation for a specific function is "unnecessary", because the Commission will be subject to section 6 of the Human Rights Act.
On information disclosure, the government says it "does not intend to introduce a merits-based appeal" against ministerial decisions, citing the primacy of the Executive in decisions on the security of the State.
On the definition of "close family member", the government says it believes the current approach is "balanced", while recognising "different views" and saying it "will continue to engage and carefully consider these".
On veterans, the government will "not, therefore, accept any proposals" to reintroduce the Legacy Act's immunity provisions, but is giving "careful consideration" to additional measures that must be practically deliverable and human rights compliant.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error