Northern Ireland Legacy Act immunity clause breaches human rights, rules top Belfast court
THE Belfast High Court ruled today that conditional immunity from prosecutions for Troubles-era crimes, contained in the Westminster government’s controversial Legacy Act, is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Act, passed last September, gives a conditional amnesty for suspects and introduces a ban on inquests and future civil actions related to the so-called Troubles.
But today the judge said: “There is no evidence that the granting of immunity under the Act will in any way contribute to reconciliation in Northern Ireland, indeed the evidence is to the contrary.”
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