Northern Ireland judge rules ‘Troubles’ violence amnesty breaches rights

Campaigners, including victims of the Troubles, have led the charge against a law that gives conditional amnesties to ex-soldiers and fighters for acts committed during the period [Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]

A new law that gives immunity from prosecution for most offences committed during Northern Ireland’s decades of sectarian violence is not compliant with human rights, a judge in Belfast has ruled.

The British government’s Legacy and Reconciliation Bill, passed in September, stops most prosecutions for alleged killings by armed groups and British soldiers during “the Troubles” – the period in Northern Ireland from the 1960s to the 1990s during more than 3,500 people died.