Northern Ireland’s attorney general calls for an end to prosecutions for crimes committed during the conflict. But politicians on both sides condemn the move, saying it would not ease resolution.
John Larkin QC, the chief legal adviser to the Stormont government, said there should be no more criminal prosecutions for Troubles-related crimes committed before the 1998 Good Friday agreement.
He also said that he favoured ruling out further inquests and other state investigations into the crimes committed during the 30-year conflict. The move would make people involved in crimes more likely to come forward, he added, but said that the proposal did not amount to an amnesty.
The move would cover all deaths during the conflict, caused by paramilitaries, police and the army, meaning there would be no prosecutions of, among others: the paratroopers who killed 13 people on Bloody Sunday, the paramilitaries responsible for the death of Jean McConville in 1972, and no further investigation into murders that remain unsolved.
It strikes me that the time has come to think about putting a line, set at Good Friday 1998, with respect to prosecutions, inquests and other inquiries. John Larkin
“We need to bring to an end the prospect of inquests with respect to Troubles-related deaths,” he told the Belfast Telegraph. “No more inquests and no more prosecutions with respect to Troubles-related deaths. Going hand in hand with that would be a commitment to developing ways in which access to State records can be facilitated consistently with the safety of individuals.”
The comments have sent shockwaves across the political spectrum, as well as among victims groups and human rights organisations.
Speaking at prime minister’s question time David Cameron said he thought it would be “rather dangerous” to block future prosecutions: “We are all democrats who believe in the rule of law, who believe in the independence of the police and prosecuting authorities, and they should if they are able to, be able to bring cases… But of course we are all interested in ways in which people can reconcile and come to terms with the bloody past, so that they can build a viable future and a shared future for Northern Ireland.”
Mr Larkin spoke out without any prior warning to Stormont politicians, including first or deputy first ministers, and he has been criticised for being irresponsible and branching out beyond his remit as chief legal adviser to the government. The move was also surprising considering Mr Larkin’s recent announcement of an inquiry into suspected state collusion in the 1976 bombing in south Armagh, in which two people died. The loyalist Glenanne Gang are thought to have been behind the attack.
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Brian Gormally, director of the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) also told Channel 4 News he had reservations about the comments: “We’re concerned that the attorney general’s idea of abandoning all inquiries into deaths during the troubles, is not consistent with the UK government’s obligations to article two of the EU Convention of human rights.
“That obligation is to fully investigate deaths, in an independent and effective manner. It is of course possible to do that without the necessity of prosecutions, but that would have to be in context of transitional justice.”
NI Attorney General commonsense no pre-Good Friday conflict-related prosecutions. Best to help Victims & address The Past in other ways.
— Peter Hain (@PeterHain) November 20, 2013
The nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the hard-line unionist party Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) have both voiced serious concerns about the proposal.
SDLP assembly member Alban Maginness said the comments constituted a blanket amnesty, even if this was not what Mr Larkin intended. “The international view, also held by the United Nations, is that general amnesty is not the correct way of proceeding in a post conflict situation,” he said. “The SDLP’s primary concern is for victims and survivors of state and paramilitary violence. They are entitled to justice irrespective of the lapse of time.”
TUV leader Jim Allister said: “I am appalled and angry that the chief law officer, who should be the guardian of the rule of law, is advocating immunity for terrorists.
The idea of abandoning all inquiries into deaths during the troubles is not consistent with the UK government’s obligations to article two of the EU Convention of human rights – Brian Gormally, CAJ
“What a kick in the teeth for innocent victims to have the attorney general, no less, championing the long standing IRA demand that their ‘on the runs’ and anyone responsible for anything before 1998, should be free from the pursuit of the law. It is amnesty.”
However former Northern Ireland secretary of state, Peter Hain, described Mr Larkin’s proposals as “common sense”, and said it there were “better ways” to help victims and their families to deal with the past.
The comments from Mr Larkin come in the middle of peace talks led by former US diplomat Dr Richard Haass, aimed at resolving a political stalemate over unresolved issues, including how to move on from a violent past.
The comments also follow renewed pleas for information from paramilitary groups about the whereabouts of “the disappeared” – victims presumably killed by the IRA during the north of Ireland’s violent conflict, but whose bodies have never been recovered.
Mr Larkin said he would include his proposal for an end to prosecutions in a submission to Dr Haass. “More than 15 years have passed since the Belfast agreement, there have been very few prosecutions, and every competent criminal lawyer will tell you the prospects of conviction diminish, perhaps exponentially, with each passing year, so we are in a position now where I think we have to take stock,” he said.
“It strikes me that the time has come to think about putting a line, set at Good Friday 1998, with respect to prosecutions, inquests and other inquiries.”