Criminal Justice Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Official Report 745KB pdf

Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill

Our final item of business today is to review a supplementary legislative consent memorandum on the UK Government’s Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.

The LCM has been lodged because a small number of relatively minor amendments have been made to the bill since we last considered the issue of consent, and they impact on devolved competences. As outlined in the LCM, the new amendments fall within the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence, as they relate to the way in which the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery carries out its functions, in so far as they relate to Scotland, with regard to criminal investigations and the review and investigations of deaths or harmful conduct. The amendments therefore require the Scottish Parliament’s consent.

Before we start, I point out to members that the new amendments do not affect the key parts of the bill that we have looked at and the Scottish Government has not changed its view that the Scottish Parliament should not consent to the relevant parts in this bill for reasons that we have already discussed and, after a vote, agreed with. I should also point out that, because of the timetable in the UK Parliament and our recess, the bill passed into law last night. Therefore, all we need do today is note this development.

If no one has anything else to add, do we agree to note the supplementary LCM?

Members indicated agreement.

That concludes our business. Next week, we will be joined by Gill Imery to review the work of the response to deaths in prison custody group, and we will also consider our approach to the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill.