Police in the North no longer want to be accused of being “gatekeepers” to the past or having “ulterior motives” around the handling of documentation on Troubles related deaths, according to the PSNI’s Deputy Chief Constable.
Drew Harris told the Belfast-based news website The Detail that the PSNI wants to relinquish ownership of the thousands of legacy files in its "murder archive" and hand them over to a new investigations unit being proposed under the Stormont House Agreement (SHA).
This comes as the Irish and British governments, plus the Stormont parties, are involved in political negotiations around implementing the agreement brokered last year, which would tackle the legacy of the Troubles.
But the issue of who would control sensitive security files on the past remains a contentious issue.
The PSNI murder archive contains files on every killing that has occurred in Northern Ireland since 1968. Legislation is being drafted to create a new independent body known as the Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) to investigate outstanding Troubles murders.
Murder files
Mr Harris said the police would hand over ownership of all Troubles related murder files to the HIU, if the new unit is agreed at the Stormont talks.
“We firmly support the establishment of the HIU and we will do everything to assist it as it develops,” he said.
“If that means handing over or giving responsibility of the murder archive to it then that is completely appropriate. We no longer want to be accused of being the gatekeepers to this documentation and having some ulterior motive around our handling of it.”
However, concerns have been raised about the draft legislation for the Stormont House Agreement, which it is claimed gives the British government the power to effectively veto the contents of reports published by the HIU on grounds of national security.
It is also claimed the draft legislation contains no explicit provision to transfer the police murder archive to the HIU, providing instead for a PSNI duty to assist the HIU in the effective use of documents.
Queries have been raised about HIU access to other police intelligence files that might relate to murders from the Troubles.
Mr Harris said he believed that the police service needed to step away from legacy issues to allow it to deal with “the threats of today”.
The PSNI’s murder archive contains almost 12,000 boxes relating to murders committed since 1968, including over 3,700 attributed to the Troubles.