6 Landscape of Legal Processes
Historical Enquiries Team
CHAPTER 6 | Landscape of Legal Processes
Overview of Existing Legal Processes
There are at present several legal processes which are examining historical cases.
These include:
- police investigation, particularly the Historical Enquiries Team
- investigation by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
- public inquiries
- inquests
- reviews of convictions by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
The Group has examined these processes, [...]
Police Ombudsman
The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
The Police Ombudsman was established by the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 to provide an independent and impartial system of examining complaints against the police. The powers and duties of the Ombudsman are set out in the 1998 Act and subsequent Acts of 2000 and 2003. The [...]
Public Inquiries
Bloody Sunday Inquiry
On 29th January 1998 the then British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, announced a public inquiry into the events of Sunday, 30 January 1972, in Derry/Londonderry, known as Bloody Sunday. The Inquiry was set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921. It has been chaired by Lord Saville and is due to [...]
Coroners
Inquests
Northern Ireland has its own Coroners Service that is administered and funded by the Northern Ireland Court Service. Ultimate financial responsibility rests with the Ministry of Justice, which is also responsible for the law and policy governing Coroners.
The role and responsibilities of the Coroners in Northern Ireland are determined by the Coroners (Northern Ireland) Act [...]
The Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is an independent body established under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 to review possible miscarriages of justice in the criminal courts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and refer appropriate cases to the appeal courts. The Commission is based in Birmingham and has just under 90 staff, including a [...]
→ Read more‘One the runs’ and the location of victims remains
‘On the Runs’
In the Weston Park negotiations in 2001, the two Governments agreed to introduce legislation in respect of those individuals who were suspected of paramilitary offences but who had not been tried or convicted by virtue of the fact that they were ‘on the run’.
The British Government subsequently introduced the Northern Ireland Offences Bill [...]
