9th Report - Draft Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (Remedial) Order 2025: Second Report

We remind the Northern Ireland Office that Parliament expects the Government to respond to a committee report within two months. If the Department is not able to provide a response within two months, it must write to the committee to explain the delay. (Conclusion, Paragraph 19) Procedural requirements

We are satisfied that the Government has complied with the procedural requirement to summarise the representations it has received and to detail any changes it has made to the Draft Remedial Order as a result. (Conclusion, Paragraph 76)

We therefore conclude, in these exceptional and unusual circumstances, that the Government has sufficiently compelling reasons to proceed by way of remedial order. However, this should not be taken as a precedent by other Departments in the future: if a Bill is either before Parliament or about to be laid before Parliament concerning a particular policy area, absent some similarly weighty reasons, the Government must use that Bill to make changes to primary legislation, not a remedial order. (Conclusion, Paragraph 91)

We are satisfied that the use of the non-urgent procedure remains appropriate. (Conclusion, Paragraph 94)

We are satisfied that the Government has corrected the drafting errors we identified in the Proposed Order. There are no other matters which should be drawn to the attention of either House on JCSI grounds. (Conclusion, Paragraph 97) 43 Remedying the incompatibility

We welcome the amendments the Government has made to the drafting of the Draft Remedial Order in response to our recommendations. (Conclusion, Paragraph 99)

We remain concerned about the resourcing of legacy cases. Our Committee may well revisit this issue if the lack of adequate funding affects the right of access to the courts. (Conclusion, Paragraph 115)

The Draft Remedial Order would successfully rectify the incompatibilities the Government is seeking to use the remedial order to rectify. (Conclusion, Paragraph 118)

We therefore recommend that the Draft Remedial Order should be approved by both Houses of Parliament. (Recommendation, Paragraph 119) 44