Legacy Inquests

Northern Ireland’s Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against a coroner’s decision not to grant properly interested person status (PIP) to a witness during a death inquiry. The coroner found that the survivor witness did not have sufficient grounds for the elevated status, as the in

The Attorney General should order a fresh inquest into the murder of Mary McGlinchey in 1987, lawyers acting for her sole immediate living relative have said. Mulholland Law has made representations directly to the Attorney General after "scant documentation received from the coroner for Co Louth an

Nine inquests will be listed in the third year of Northern Ireland's five-year plan to clear the entire backlog of Troubles-era cases, the presiding coroner has announced. Mr Justice Humphreys conducted a review of all legacy inquests where a coroner has not yet been appointed at the end of February

The presiding coroner for Northern Ireland has identified eight inquests which will be progressed under year two of the Lord Chief Justice's five-year plan for legacy inquests, which has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In a statement today, Mr Justice David McFarland said: "The impact of the

A group of human rights NGOs, academics and lawyers has warned that new legacy proposals from the UK government "would breach both international law and the domestic Human Rights Act, deliver impunity, bury truth recovery and fundamentally undermine the rule of law". An open letter signed by 18 orga

Attorney General Brenda King has ordered a fresh inquest into the shooting of six Catholic men in the New Lodge area of north Belfast in February 1973. The British Army initially said all six men had been shot by soldiers, but later said it appeared that loyalist paramilitaries were responsible for

The British Army was "unjustified" in shooting an unarmed and innocent Co Tyrone farmer in cold blood in 1974, the first legacy inquest held under the Lord Chief Justice's five-year plan has concluded. Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan yesterday delivered her findings and verdict following an inquest into

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is investigating claims that the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) broke the law by failing to publish an equality assessment of its legacy proposals. The watchdog is investigating after a complaint was filed by the Committee on the Administration of Justice

The first legacy inquest to take place under the five-year plan set out by the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan, is set to begin at the end of the month. The 10 inquests set to be heard in the first year of the Lord Chief Justice’s plan to clear the entire backlog of 56 outstanding legacy

The outgoing Commissioner for Victims and Survivors has called on the Executive Office to appoint a successor as a matter of urgency. Despite indicating her willingness to be reappointed, ministers confirmed last month that Judith Thompson's term will end on Monday.

Les Allamby, chief commissioner for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, considers how Northern Ireland is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. How does a national human rights institution (NHRI) respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic when human rights and freedoms are curtailed?

A new information sharing agreement has been struck between the PSNI and the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI). The new memorandum follows months of discussions prompted by police failures to disclose "significant" evidence related to legacy cases to the watchdog.

The first tranche of legacy inquests due to be heard as part of a five-year plan may begin to be heard in October in unprecedented "hybrid" hearings following delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The presiding coroner for Northern Ireland, Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan, who will soon be succeeded in

Lawyers for an IRA man alleged to have been killed by a secretive British military unit have launched proceedings against the PSNI over his exclusion from a new investigation. Belfast firm KRW LAW LLP is representing the family of Daniel McAreavey, who was shot and killed in the Lower Falls in Octob

The establishment of an independent Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) outside of the PSNI risks turning Northern Ireland into a "police state", two senior lawyers have claimed. Writing in the News Letter, Belfast solicitor Neil Faris and Peter Smith CBE QC, who served on the Patten Commission, sa