Former Police Ombudsman Baroness Nuala O’Loan has said a British government established Troubles body needs to be replaced.
Ms O’Loan was speaking after the new Labour government repeated a pledge to repeal the legacy act during a speech by King Charles outlining the new government’s legislative plans at Westminster on Wednesday.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 ended all inquests and civil cases in May, as well as introducing conditional immunity.
Almost 40 Troubles inquests were shelved due to the legacy act May deadline.
Responsibility for oversight of legacy case has since transferred to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
However, many victims and families touched by the Troubles are strongly opposed to the ICRIR, believing it is part of British government attempts to shield state participants from accountability.
Former Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan was appointed as chief commissioner of the new body last year, while ex-senior police officer Peter Sheridan heads up investigations.
Legal challenges have been launched against the contentious legacy legislation, including one by the Irish Government at the European Court of Human Rights, while a High Court judge has already ruled that conditional immunity and plans to close down some civil actions are unlawful.
Ms O’Loan has now said that the ICRIR has not “gained the confidence of victims” and “doesn’t have the powers it needs”.
The former police ombudsman called for an independent investigation’s unit similar to mechanisms proposed as part of the 2014 Stormont House Agreement, which were later shelved.
“I do know there is generally grave dissatisfaction with the fact that control of information effectively lies in the hand of the secretary of state not ultimately of the ICRIR,” she said.
“So, I think there will have to be a very significant change if the Labour government choose to call it the ICRIR that’s not the most important thing, the most important thing is that we can have inquests, that we can have civil actions, that there’s no immunity provision and that there are proper investigations,” she told the BBC.
Meanwhile, campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond McCord Jr was killed by the UVF in November 1997, rejected the Labour proposals.
“Once again victims are being treated by the British government like second class citizens with Labour’s legacy act proposals in the king’s speech,” he said.
“We were led to believe the act would be scrapped not tweaked.
“The ICRIR has been rejected by the victims’ families.
“We cannot have an inquest system that victims and their barristers are not permitted to see even redacted disclosure documents on the murders of their family members.”
My son Raymond Jr and all the other victims deserve better than what Labour and the ICRIR is offering.”
Mr McCord was critical of the latest British government proposals.
“I reject a sketchy tweaked offering of truth and justice from the Labour Party,” he said.
“When will a British government listen and offer what victims want, a truth and justice system fit for purpose.
“Are we going to have another farcical legacy act promoted by Labour or a truth and justice process supported by victims and their families?”
An ICRIR spokesperson said: “Since May, the commission has been engaging with victims, families and survivors about whether they would like us to carry out investigations into the death of their loved one or serious injury to themselves.
“We will be continuing with our vital work of investigations which the government has made clear will remain.
“Our focus remains on delivering something of worth to those who come to us and we will provide an update on our early work in September.
“The announcement that conditional immunity will be repealed removes a significant concern for many victims, survivors and their families and the commission considers that this clarity will provide reassurance.”
