The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy & Reconciliation) Bill

Briefing on the NI Bill-Final (pdf)

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy & Reconciliation) Bill had enormous implications for those that served in Northern Ireland. Presented as in the interests of the armed forces, it was not.

Bereaved military families and those that lost friends and colleagues had everything to lose. The unsolved murders or serious crimes committed against more than 235 service personnel immediately closed when the Bill passed, as this Freedomof Information Act request to the Police Service of NI demonstrates: PSNI LEGACY CASES FOIA

That FOIA response just concerns data held by PSNI. It did not include the dozens of cases of the the unsolved murders of British soldiers on the mainland whose cases were also closed.

Postscript, September 2026:

Legal challenges to the Legacy Act succeeded in that the immunity scheme was repeatedly declared unlawful. The Sunak Government appealed against those rulings but the Starmer Govt abandoned the appeal on the immunity point once it came into government. The Legacy Act is now in the process of being repealed and replaced by the NI Troubles Bill.

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