Another man has successfully appealed his convictions for trying to help Gerry Adams escape from prison in the 1970s. Martin O'Rawe, 70, brought an appeal following last year's landmark UK Supreme Court ruling which found that Mr Adams was detained unlawfully and therefore had not broken the law by
Troubles
Northern Ireland's High Court has directed that an investigation into the 1998 Omagh bombing that is compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights should be carried out following a judicial review. The application for judicial review was brought in 2013 by Michael Gallagher, th
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) failed to comply with its approved equality scheme while developing legislation to address the legacy of the past, the Equality Commission has found following an investigation. An investigation was launched after the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)
The Law Society of Northern Ireland has called on the UK government to "uphold the rule of law" and reconsider controversial plans to end all criminal investigations and prosecutions linked to killings during the Troubles. The sharpest intervention yet by the solicitors' body comes shortly after the
UK government plans to end all criminal prosecutions linked to the Troubles are "incompatible with the United Kingdom's international obligations", the European commissioner for human rights has said. In a letter to Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis, the Council of Europe's commissioner for h
The UK government's proposed amnesty for killings and serious crimes related to the Troubles is even more far-reaching than the widely-criticised amnesty introduced by Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet, according to a new analysis. A team of legacy experts based within Queen's University Bel
Northern Ireland's legacy pension scheme for victims of the Troubles has opened for applications from today. The scheme, officially known as the "victims' payments scheme for permanent disablement", is designed to recognise and acknowledge the harm suffered and to promote reconciliation, as well as
A former soldier has failed in his bid to have a manslaughter trial halted. David Holden, 51, will stand trial over the killing of Aidan McAnespie in County Tyrone in 1988 after a judge ruled there are sufficient grounds for the case to proceed.
UN experts have expressed "grave concern" that UK government plans to end all prosecutions for incidents during the Troubles, including killings, will amount to a policy of blanket impunity for serious human rights violations. Fabián Salvioli, the special rapporteur on the promotion of truth,
It is "plausible" that security services had "a real prospect of preventing the Omagh bombing", a High Court judge in Belfast has ruled. In a judgment delivered this morning, Mr Justice Mark Horner called for new Article 2-compliant investigations to take place on both sides of the border.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has unanimously rejected deeply controversial UK government proposals to end all criminal prosecutions linked to the Troubles. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis last week set out the government's proposal for a "statute of limitations" which would prevent the pro
All criminal prosecutions linked to killings during the Troubles would be brought to an end under deeply controversial proposals announced by the UK government yesterday. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis yesterday told MPs that the government wants to introduce a "statute of limitations, to
Mr Justice Gerry McAlinden has been appointed as president of the Victims’ Payments Board, which will determine who is entitled to payments under the new Troubles pension scheme. The judge was appointed as interim president of the board last November and will now take on the role permanently f
Stormont's Executive Office is under a legal obligation to fund a pension for people who suffered severe injuries in the Troubles, the Court of Appeal has ruled. The scheme opens for applications in March but it is not yet clear who will fund the payments, as Stormont and Westminster have been engag
Mr Justice Gerry McAlinden has been appointed as interim president of the Victims' Payments Board, which will determine who is entitled to payments under the new Troubles pension scheme. The Department of Justice was designated in August, following a long political row, as the administrator of the l