Troubled Legacies: The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 and the Thin Line Between Impunity and Reconciliation

On 18 September 2023, the UK Parliament adopted the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 to address the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict and promote reconciliation between communities. However, the act has been heavily criticised for being in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and was challenged before courts. On the one hand, the Irish government lodged an inter-state appeal against the United Kingdom before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for the second time since the 1978 judgment on Ireland v. United Kingdom (I) (no. 5310/71). On the other hand, the High Court of Belfast declared several provisions of the Legacy Act 2023 in violation of the ECHR, a decision later upheld by the Court of Appeal. Almost a year later the first adoption, in December 2024, the UK government presented to Parliament a proposal for a Remedial Order, later scrutinised by the Joint Committee on Human Rights. This case note analyses the relevance of the legal challenges against the Legacy Act 2023, assessing the impact of these decisions on the process of reconciliation in Northern Ireland as well as the ECHR system of human rights protection.