Northern Ireland Troubles Bill 2024-26

The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill 2024-26 would repeal and replace parts of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023. It was introduced, together with secondary legislation, with the aims of removing aspects of the act that have been found by the courts to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, and of finding an alternative way to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.

Background

Operation Banner in Northern Ireland (August 1969 to July 2007) was the longest continuous deployment of armed forces personnel in British military history, during which over 250,000 military personnel served. During this time, it is estimated that 1,441 UK military personnel died during operations, 722 as a result of paramilitary attacks, and that the military was responsible for the deaths of 301 individuals, over half of whom were civilians.

“The Troubles” refers to the events and conduct relating to Northern Ireland affairs between 1966 and when the Belfast/ Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998.

Historic investigations

Over the last 20 years, bodies have been established to investigate the deaths and serious injuries that occurred during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

However, there have been concerns about these processes from all sides relating to doubts over the credibility and reliability of evidence and witness statements that may be over 40 years old and the re-opening of investigations that had already concluded.

Some have said that investigations disproportionately focused on the actions of the UK armed forces and former police officers, rather than Republican and Loyalist paramilitary forces. This perception has been challenged by the Northern Ireland Police Service and investigation teams.

What is the Legacy Act?

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act (the Legacy Act) was introduced by the former Conservative government and came into force in 2023. It aimed to draw a line under the past in Northern Ireland, moving away from criminal justice and litigation, and towards reconciliation and information recovery.

The Legacy Act introduced a conditional immunity scheme, which prohibited criminal investigations into Troubles-related offences. It also ended all Troubles-related civil claims and inquests, and established the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) to review deaths and serious injuries which took place during the Troubles, with the capacity to refer cases to the prosecution service.

There has been criticism of the measures in the act from Northern Irish politicians and victims, and human rights groups.

Decision to repeal and replace the Legacy Act

The government has said that the “approach to legacy taken by the last government was wrong. It caused immense pain to victims and survivors, and in many respects has been found to be unlawful”. The government has also committed to fix the “flawed and failed legislation […] in a way that honours our duty towards […] veterans”.

This decision to repeal the act has been welcomed by politicians and victims’ groups in Northern Ireland, but there have been concerns expressed by MPs, and veterans who served during Operation Banner have protested the decision.

What would the bill do?

The primary purpose of the bill is to repeal and replace part 2 and certain aspects of part 3 of the Legacy Act, reforming and renaming the ICRIR as the Legacy Commission and expanding its powers to conduct investigations and inquisitorial proceedings based on public inquiries.

It is being introduced alongside a draft remedial order, which would repeal other parts of the Legacy Act relating to the conditional immunity scheme and the prohibition on bringing civil cases. These have been found by the High Court in Northern Ireland and the Court of Appeal to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, which is incorporated into UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998.

Other aspects of the Legacy Act would remain in force.

Key differences with the Legacy Act

In seeking to ensure that the legislation resolves the incompatibilities identified by the courts, and garners the confidence of the affected communities, the bill would make certain key changes to the regime for dealing with legacy cases. Taken together with the remedial order it would:

• Remove the possibility of gaining immunity from prosecution.
• Allow civil actions to be brought in relation to Troubles-related conduct.
• Allow some legacy inquests to resume in the coronial system. Others would be dealt with by the Legacy Commission’s inquisitorial proceedings, with powers based on public inquiries, to enable the participation of families and the handling of sensitive information.
• Enable the Legacy Commission to conduct criminal investigations.
• Limit the possibility of preventing the disclosure of sensitive information, by requiring the Secretary of State to conduct a balancing exercise when considering whether a disclosure would be damaging to national security.
• Introduce safeguards against conflicts of interest for those dealing with legacy cases.
• Introduce a statutory oversight board and Victims and Survivors Advisory Group for the Legacy Commission.
• Impose a duty on the Legacy Commission not to duplicate aspects of any previous investigations unless essential.

The bill would implement a framework agreement with the Government of Ireland announced on 19 September 2025, guided by the principles of the 2014 Stormont House Agreement.

Bill documents

The bill, explanatory notes and delegated powers memorandum are available on the bill pages.

The Northern Ireland Office has produced a European Convention on Human Rights Memorandum (PDF) explaining its view of the impact the bill might have on the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. This assists the Joint Committee on Human Rights in conducting legislative scrutiny of a bill’s compatibility with the convention.

The Secretary of State has made a statement under section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998 that, in his view, the bill is compatible with the convention.