No equivalence between soldiers and terrorists: Government to amend NI Troubles Bill

The UK government is set to introduce a number of changes – known as amendments – to its controversial Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, which it says are designed to treat veterans of the conflict with "fairness, dignity and respect". 

The bill, if passed, will replace the 2023 Northern Ireland Troubles Act (Legacy and Reconciliation), established by the previous government under then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Under that act, conditional immunity from prosecution was provided to both former British military personnel accused of wrongdoing and those who committed terrorism offences during the Troubles.

• NI Troubles Bill: What we know about controversial legislation after MP vote
• MPs vote to lift the ban on future Troubles-era claims as legacy law overhaul continues
• Soldiers shouldn't face endless legal jeopardy, says Carns in report on SAS veteran protection

But the new legislation, if approved by MPs and given Royal Assent, will remove that immunity and instead permit prosecutions against former members of the British Army – if certain tests are met.

Attorney General veto

A key amendment to the bill would require the UK Attorney General to give formal consent before any Troubles prosecution can proceed, effectively handing the government's chief legal adviser the power to block historical proceedings against veterans.

However, ministers are aware that some parties will have concerns around this, given the role is political. There have also been past instances where the individual holding the office of Attorney General has had personal experience of bringing cases against former soldiers.

Senior figures stressed that placing this power in the hands of Westminster has effectively taken the decision to prosecute out of Northern Ireland, something they believe Troubles veterans will prefer.

SAS veterans 

BFBS Forces News understands that while designing changes to the bill, defence officials engaged with veterans' groups - including the Parachute Regiment and SAS associations - none of whom asked for a continued commitment to immunity from prosecutions, a senior figure said.

The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill is the latest chapter in a decades-long struggle to resolve conflict-era deaths, which began in the wake of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

In 2024, the Belfast Court of Appeal found that the UK's law surrounding Troubles-era prosecutions was unlawful under European law. This led to the new bill – introduced under former PM Sir Keir Starmer – which these new amendments aim to improve.

But some issues remain unresolved.

It is understood that civil claim proceedings (claims against MOD and other state bodies) halted when the 2023 law was enacted may resume – and would do so under the law as it was pre-Legacy Act, not the provisions afforded under the new bill."

On Monday 12 October, a senior government figure told BFBS Forces News that the new law will be "respectful of those people who gave so much in the service of their nation".

They added: "The previous bill, in its attempt to give immunity, created a parity between those people that had acted bravely on behalf of the state, and terrorists who had acted out of self-interest for other political or ideological reasons.

"The need to ensure that there was no moral equivalence is something veterans needed to hear from the government, and that is now explicitly laid out in the bill."