King's Speech 2026: Northern Ireland Troubles Bill

Northern Ireland Troubles Bill

● The legacy of the Troubles continues to be deeply felt by victims, those who
served in Northern Ireland and wider society. This Bill is needed because the
previous Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 (the
‘Legacy Act’) was flawed and left our veterans without any lawful protection and
exposed to a legal Wild West.

● The Government will address the unfinished business from the Good Friday
Agreement. Too many families – including hundreds of Armed Forces families –
are still looking for answers about what happened to their loved ones during the
Troubles.

● The Bill will provide effective protections for veterans and enable bereaved
families, including of service personnel, to get answers about what happened to
their loved ones. This will be supported by the fullest possible disclosure by the
Irish authorities for investigations conducted by the Commission. It will ensure
that nobody receives immunity for terrorist crimes; and puts in place the
strongest safeguards for veterans and all who served to bring about peace.

What does the Bill do?

● The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will enable victims and bereaved families
across the UK to seek information and accountability through a reformed
Legacy Commission. As we approach three decades since the Good Friday
Agreement, this Bill delivers on one of its final aims.

● The previous government’s Legacy Act was widely opposed across
communities in Northern Ireland and was rejected by domestic courts. Its
‘immunity scheme’ was ruled against and was never commenced, causing
legal uncertainty and therefore not providing protection for veterans. It sought
to offer immunity to terrorists as well as veterans, and so was seen by many
as an affront to the rule of law that our security forces sought to protect. All of
this undermined trust and confidence in the Independent Commission for
Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

● The Bill will:

○ Establish a reformed Legacy Commission (reconstituted from the
ICRIR) that all victims and families can have confidence in. It will have
powers to investigate and fact-find for families affected by the Troubles,

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 right across the UK. This means that many more families, including
bereaved families of service personnel, will have the opportunity to
obtain information they have long sought. The Commission will have
new governance arrangements, a statutory victims and survivors
advisory group and new conflict of interest duties.

○ Create new lawful protections for our veterans. These will apply to
security forces personnel who served in Northern Ireland during the
Troubles and who are asked to give information, ensuring they are
treated with dignity and respect. For instance, there will be an end to
cold-calling, and veterans being asked to travel to Northern Ireland to
give evidence, and there will be no needless duplication of previous
investigations.

○ Deliver a fair disclosure regime, ensuring that the Commission has
all it needs to find answers for families and to make public the
maximum possible information without risking life or national security.
Parallel Irish legislation will also provide for the fullest possible
information sharing by the Irish authorities with the Legacy
Commission.

○ Restore a limited number of inquests which had started but were
stopped by the Legacy Act and put in place practical and deliverable
safeguards for those who are required to engage. Inquests that had not
started will be referred to the Solicitor General to independently
consider whether, in each case, they are most appropriately dealt with
by the Legacy Commission or in the coronial system.

○ Create a new process within the Commission to handle cases that
transfer from the coronial system. Consistent with the approach in
the Inquiries Act, but benefitting from economies of scale and specific
legacy expertise, the Commission will have provision for public
hearings, the ability to consider sensitive information in closed hearings
and will provide effective next of kin participation, including through
legal representation.

○ Establish an Independent Commission on Information Retrieval
(ICIR), jointly with the Irish Government, and consistent with the
Stormont House Agreement. This will, initially on a pilot basis, provide
families with an additional means to retrieve information. Any
information disclosed by individuals to the ICIR will be inadmissible in
criminal and civil proceedings.

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 ○ Leave in place Part 4 of the Legacy Act which will ensure that the
provisions regarding oral history, academic research and the
memorialisation of the Troubles remain intact.

● The Bill delivers on the Joint Framework agreed with the Irish
Government in September 2025. As part of this, the Irish Government
committed to: establishing a dedicated unit within An Garda Síochána (AGS)
for Troubles-related cases as a central point of contact for families; AGS
investigating all unresolved Troubles-related incidents within its jurisdiction;
ensuring that any potential investigative opportunities are proactively pursued;
and facilitating the fullest possible information sharing between the Irish
authorities and the Legacy Commission.

● The dedicated unit within AGS has now been established, and the Irish
Government will shortly publish its legislative proposal on cross-border
co-operation between the Irish authorities and the reformed Legacy
Commission, as well as the establishment of the Independent Commission for
Information Retrieval.

Territorial extent and application

● The majority of the Bill will extend and apply to the whole of the UK, with
some small elements, such as Inquests, extending and applying to Northern
Ireland only.

Key facts

● All 966 ongoing civil claims are against the state, not individuals. This includes
123 cases halted by the Legacy Act, which the courts found to be
incompatible with our legal obligations. Even cases made against alleged
agents are made against the state, not individuals. The Government
estimates that for cases since 2020 in which the Ministry of Defence is the
defendant, only five veterans have attended court. It is highly unusual for
claims to be issued against personally named defendants – in rare instances
where this happened, the Ministry of Defence has succeeded in having the
individual defendant struck out.

● Over 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles, although the exact number
of Troubles related deaths is disputed and differs between sources.
Paramilitaries are responsible for over 3,000 of these deaths, including over
1,700 attributed to the IRA.

● Of the more than 3,500 deaths, over 1,000 were UK security forces
personnel, with many more seriously injured. A third of the killings, among

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 them some of the most heinous terrorist attacks in our history, remain
unsolved.

● During the Troubles, an estimated 25,000 - 35,000 republicans and loyalists
were imprisoned for a range of offences, including murder. During the same
period, four members of the British Army were convicted of murder and one of
those convictions was overturned on appeal.

● The Law Society for Northern Ireland “welcomes the revised framework
and that the Bill will amend the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and
Reconciliation) Act 2023. The Society considers that the new framework and
draft Bill represent an important opportunity for the UK and Ireland to deliver a
bilateral, victims-centred and human rights compliant approach to addressing
the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland, with the aim of delivering truth and
justice to victims and survivors of the Troubles.”

● The Royal British Legion ‘are pleased the Government will be introducing
safeguards to protect veterans from repeated investigations, and measures to
consider the health and wellbeing of those involved in investigations, while
ensuring bereaved Armed Forces families can continue to pursue answers to
their longstanding questions’.

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