Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn announced this week that he would bring a remedial order to Westminster in response to court rulings which found parts of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 to be incompatible with human rights laws.

Subject to parliamentary approval, the order will repeal provisions relating to the controversial immunity scheme and will enable all civil proceedings which were prohibited under the Act, including future cases, to proceed.

However, the government’s promise to restore inquests — as well as a commitment to reform the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) — will be dealt with under primary legislation “when parliamentary time allows”, he said.

KRW LAW said Mr Benn’s announcement “helps reset the dial on legacy and allows many survivors’ and victims’ families who otherwise were blocked from accessing the courts to have their cases heard”.

“Whilst some of the issues around inquests remain opaque, the clear pronouncement on their reinstatement will be uplifting news to many affected families, including those bereaved in the McGurks Bar and New Lodge Six murders from the early 1970s,” it said.

The firm has begun “the welcome task of contacting over 100 clients to let them know their cases will continue”, it added.

“As a matter of urgency, we will engage with the Crown Solicitor’s Office on currently pended civil actions and seek to have the current stay on actions lifted, allowing cases to proceed as quickly as possible,” it continued.

“The previous government’s insistence upon blocking access to the courts created a hiatus over the last two years that only served to stall cases and resulted in a lot of lost ground to make up, but at least [this week’s] news presents us with a welcome problem.

“Unfortunately, it comes too late for some who sadly are no longer with us, but the announcement does helpfully recalibrate prospective legal action linked to many different atrocities.”

However, the firm warned that the “largely positive outworkings of Hilary Benn’s statement on civil cases and inquests is undermined with the retention of a State veto on matters of ‘national security’”.

“With this remedial order, the Secretary of State proposes to largely repeal and/or modify those parts of the Act which the High Court and Court of Appeal found to be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, while continuing to defend some of the most concerning elements of legacy litigation, such as the opaque processes surrounding information relating to national security,” it said.