Britain Repeals Controversial Amnesty Scheme for Northern Ireland

Britain's new Labour government announced the repeal of an amnesty scheme for ex-soldiers and militants involved in Northern Ireland's decades-long conflict. The move fulfills a manifesto promise and addresses criticisms from major parties, victims' families, and the Irish government that the Legacy Act denied justice.

Britain's new government declared on Wednesday its decision to scrap an amnesty scheme for ex-soldiers and militants involved in the Northern Ireland conflict, which has faced opposition from all major parties and the Irish government. This fulfills Labour's election manifesto commitment to repeal and replace the Legacy Act, criticized for denying justice to families and victims of the Troubles.

The government specifically plans to repeal the "conditional immunity scheme," which the Northern Ireland High Court found incompatible with Britain's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. Additionally, it will reverse the prohibition on victims' families from bringing civil claims. The act faced opposition from victims' families, human rights organizations, and both British unionist and Irish nationalist political parties, and has been subject to over 20 legal challenges in Northern Ireland.

The previous Conservative government defended the law, arguing that prosecutions for events up to 55 years ago were unlikely and that the bill could help close a chapter on the conflict. This announcement precedes a meeting between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Irish counterpart Simon Harris at Chequers later on Wednesday. Harris, who assumed office in April, has called for a "great reset" of UK-Irish ties and challenged the Legacy Act at the European Court of Human Rights. The conflict, known as the "Troubles," resulted in 3,600 deaths over three decades until a 1998 peace deal largely ended the violence.

(With inputs from agencies.)