On Monday, Ireland is mulling legal act against a suggested UK law that would give immunity to troopers involved in decades of sectarian brutality in Northern Ireland, the Financial Times reported.
Michael Martin, the foreign minister of Ireland said that we have asked for legal advice. I’ll obtain that lawful advice in the next fortnight, and then we’ll consider that in terms of what step we later take, she added.
The suggested law, which is being mulled by the UK parliament, would form a reality and recovery commission proposing amnesty to British security personnel and paramilitaries if they collaborate with its inquiries.
Ireland is considering whether it would be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The bill, presented in May 2022, would protect the three decades of sectarian brutality known as The Troubles.
More than 3,500 people were killed during the battle that started in the 1960s over UK rule in Northern Ireland.
According to the UK government around 1,200 casualties are under investigation.
The bill, which proceeds before parliament next week, has been criticized by families of those who died during that time, by all political groups in Northern Ireland, and by the Irish government.
Europe’s leading rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, has voiced “serious concerns” about the suggested law.
But the bill has been received by groups describing British veterans of that time, who claim that former troopers have been subjected to unjust prosecutions.
In November 2022, for the first time since the end of the battle in 1998, British soldier David Holden got a three-year suspended punishment for having killed a man at a checkpoint, shooting him in the back.
