Any attempt to introduce an effective amnesty for British soldiers will be resisted in the House of Commons, the SDLP leader and newly elected MP for Foyle Colum Eastwood has stated.
Mr Eastwood made his comments in relation the queen's speech delivered by Queen Elizabeth at Westminster on Thursday setting out the plans for Boris Johnson's new British government.
The British government in that speech pledged that it would “bring forward proposals to tackle vexatious claims that undermine our Armed Forces and will continue to seek better ways of dealing with legacy issues that provide better outcomes for victims and survivors”.
Ahead of her speech the Sun newspaper reported that this element of the speech meant that "Boris Johnson will vow to change the law to end a series of vexatious claims made against former army soldiers on active service during the province's Troubles".
There was no further detail on this element of the Queen’s Speech but in November Mr Johnson promised to amend the law to protect former British soldiers from “vexatious” legal actions, including those relating to killings of the Troubles.
Under the proposals the British government would amend the Human Rights Act in the UK so it did not apply to issues - including deaths during the Troubles - which took place before it came into force in 2000.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney was critical of this pledge, at the time stating, "There is no statute of limitations, no amnesty for anyone who committed crimes in Northern Ireland. The law must apply to all, without exception, to achieve reconciliation."
Foyle MP Mr Eastwood interpreted the Queen’s Speech as offering an “effective amnesty for British Soldiers who committed heinous crimes in Northern Ireland”. He said it would be “opposed at Westminster by a coalition of MPs standing up for the rights of victims and survivors”.
He said the new government was “obsessed” with the idea of granting amnesty to British soldiers who committed crimes in Northern Ireland.
“Not only is it an affront to victims and survivors who lost loved ones at the hands of British army personnel, any attempt to change the law will grant effective immunity to members of paramilitary organisations who murdered and maimed people in our communities,” he said.
Mr Eastwood added, “There is nothing vexatious about seeking truth, justice and accountability for those who lost loved ones. The threshold for criminal prosecution is itself a check on the exercise of legal powers. Those brought before the courts do not face charges on a whim, it’s the result of gathered evidence and a determination by the independent PPS that a prosecution is in the public interest.”
He added that he was “sick of the myth that former soldiers are being pursued for nothing - these are serious crimes with a substantial body of evidence”.
The North’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has produced figures which challenges the idea of vexatious prosecutions of British soldiers.
In relation to legacy prosecutorial decisions it had taken since 2011 the PPS said 17 related to republican paramilitaries, eight to loyalists and five to the British army.
