A proposal for a Remedial Order to amend the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation Act) 2023

This document presents a draft of a proposed Remedial Order to amend the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (“the Legacy Act”) and make consequential amendments to two other enactments. This is to implement the February 2024 judgment of the High Court in Northern Ireland in Dillon, McEvoy, McManus, Hughes, Jordan, Gilvary, and Fitzsimmons Application and In the matter of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland [2024] NIKB 11 (‘the Dillon judgment’). It also addresses a further incompatibility which the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland ruled on in September 2024 on appeal in that case. This document gives an explanation of the incompatibility which the proposed Remedial Order seeks to remove, and the reasons for proceeding by way of a Remedial Order, as per paragraph 3(1)(a) of Schedule 2 to the Human Rights Act 1998 (“the HRA”). A Remedial Order is the most appropriate way to implement these changes to primary legislation.