Responding to the British Government’s new Legacy Bill which is now before the House of Commons which creates a new Legacy Commission, Baroness Nuala O’Loan argues that while it will have greater independence and much greater powers of investigation of the historic murders and serious crimes of the Troubles, the possible prosecution of former British soldiers is in doubt. The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee of Parliament reported on the new proposals this week, saying that “for veterans there must be fairness under the law and safeguards to ensure that investigations do not become punitive in nature”.
Baroness O’Loan told this paper that “the Rule of Law and our human rights obligations require that there be the possibility of prosecution where there is evidence which satisfies the prosecutorial test and the Director of Public Prosecutions decides that it is in the public interest to prosecute. It is right therefore that proposals for dealing with our troubled past include the possibility of prosecutions.”
She went on to say: “This immediately suggests that veterans have not or might not experience fairness under the law. There is talk elsewhere of veterans “being dragged through the courts”, of them “fearing a knock on the door.” She argues: “It is manifestly not the case that there has been a ‘witch hunt’ of former soldiers, and it is vital if the people of Northern Ireland are to trust in the Rule of Law, that there be one standard of justice for all.”