Recommendation 21

We recognise the fundamental importance of balancing information disclosure with national security issues. Someone has to strike that balance. The Government did not undertake that role under the previous “Package of Measures” for investigating Troubles-related cases, nor does it under Operation Kenova. It will do, however, under the Troubles Bill. This is of course not an issue for the terrorist organisations that caused so much harm and suffering during the Troubles. It was not their modus operandi to keep records. Despite some loosening of disclosure restrictions, however, trust and confidence in the process among some groups still needs to be attained. There may be merit, for example, in amending the right of appeal against Legacy Commission and ministerial decisions on information disclosure to allow for a merits-based rehearing. On a matter of principle, and in terms of resourcing, the obligation on organisations such as the PSNI to assess and classify information as ‘sensitive or prejudicial’ before transfer to the Commission is potentially unnecessary and will impose a 84 substantial and unfunded administrative burden to deal with the past, for organisations already under pressure to deliver services in the present. (Conclusion, Paragraph 160) Information retrieval