Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer given by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 5 November (HL11229), what advice they have received from the European Court of Human Rights regarding the current status of the Republic of Ireland's interstate case against the United Kingdom; and what plans they have to propose that the government of Ireland withdraw the case at the 1545th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies at the Council of Europe in December.

Ireland v. the United Kingdom (III) at the European Court of Human Rights has not progressed beyond preliminary stages since it was lodged by Ireland in January 2024. On 2 July 2025, the United Kingdom received correspondence from the Court to confirm that it had adjourned its proceedings pending the final outcome of the ongoing domestic proceedings for judicial review in the case Dillon and Others, which is currently awaiting judgment by the United Kingdom Supreme Court.

The withdrawal of the case is a matter for the Irish Government. The UK Government is clear that the implementation of the Troubles Bill, which seeks to fulfil long standing commitments made by this Government, will mean that the basis for any interstate case will fall away.