Sorcha Eastwood
Main Page: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)(1 day, 11 hours ago)
Written Corrections
Sorcha Eastwood
Northern Ireland Troubles Bill
The following extract is from the debate on the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill on 19 October 2026.
Sorcha Eastwood
…The joint framework suggests that the Home Secretary and Defence Secretary could also redact reports, even though MI5 and Military Intelligence are potential subjects of the investigations in question. That has already been found unlawful, but the Government have pressed ahead anyway. The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland found the equivalent provisions in the legacy Act 2023 incompatible with the ECHR—in the Dillon judgment. The Government’s appeal is before the Supreme Court but undetermined, yet they have still included the provisions and certified the Bill as ECHR-compatible on the strength of an “expectation” of winning.
[Official Report, 19 October 2026; Vol. 791, c. 850-51.]
Written correction submitted by the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood):
Sorcha Eastwood
…The joint framework suggests that the Home Secretary and Defence Secretary could also redact reports, even though MI5 and Military Intelligence are potential subjects of the investigations in question. That has already been found unlawful, but the Government have pressed ahead anyway. The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland found the equivalent provisions in the legacy Act 2023 incompatible with the ECHR—in the Dillon judgment. The Government’s appeal went before the Supreme Court, which overturned that finding, yet the Government had still included the provisions and certified the Bill as ECHR-compatible on the strength of an “expectation” of winning.