Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Randerson on 17 June (WA 49) about the royal prerogative of mercy, how they reconcile that answer with the Written Answer given by Lord McNally on 7 March 2012 (WA 425).
Answered by Baroness Randerson
The information provided by Lord McNally on 7 March 2012 was in respect of (a) pardons granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (RPM) on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for Justice, which excluded the First World War servicemen's pardons made under statute, and (b) exercises of the RPM in relation to Northern Ireland. My earlier response of 17 June 2014 referred to the Royal Prerogative of Mercy being exercised on the recommendation of previous Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland.
For clarity, and to expand upon Lord McNally's answer, until the devolution of policing and justice in 2010, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was responsible for recommending the exercising of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in relation to Northern Ireland. Following the devolution of policing and justice in 2010, the Northern Ireland Executive (specifically the Justice Minister for Northern Ireland) has responsibility for recommending the exercise of the RPM in Northern Ireland in relation to almost all matters. However, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland retains responsibility for recommending the exercise of the RPM if it were ever to be used in terrorism cases.
It was previous Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland who recommended the exercise of the RPM in relation to the 18 pre-devolution cases cited (that the Northern Ireland Office can confirm as having been granted since 1998); 16 of those cases were terrorism-related, as I referred to in my answer of 14 June. In addition to those, there were two non-terrorism related cases dating from the late 1990s prior to the devolution of policing and justice. Those 16 and the other two make up the total of 18 Northern Ireland cases identified since 1998, made on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government which Ministers formally petitioned Her Majesty for the pardons granted in the 16 Northern Ireland terrorist-related cases in the years immediately after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Answered by Baroness Randerson
The 16 uses of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy for Northern Ireland terrorist-related cases after the Belfast Agreement were granted between 2000 and 2002. The Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland over this period were Peter Mandelson and John Reid.