Hilary Benn
High confidence
Sponsors and personally certifies the Bill as Convention-compatible under HRA s.19(1)(a). His 7 October 2024 WMS (HCWS108) and subsequent statements set the policy line: repeal Part 2 of the 2023 Act, deliver a Joint Framework with Ireland, and rebuild a Legacy Commission that can win cross-community confidence while protecting veterans through no-cold-calling, anti-duplication safeguards and remote evidence provisions.Oct 2024Apr 2026Nov 2025May 2026
Northern Ireland Office
High confidence
Department position is that the Bill, taken together with the s.10 HRA Remedial Order and the UK-Ireland Joint Framework, cures the Dillon incompatibilities and operationalises an Article 2/3-compliant regime; the ECHR Memorandum argues the Court of Appeal's findings on next-of-kin participation and disclosure go beyond Strasbourg authority and will be reversed on appeal.Oct 2025Oct 2025Sep 2025
Tension with Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent
Medium confidence
Government Spokesperson conveying the Secretary of State's line in the Lords; her HLWS1062 (18 Nov 2025) and HLWS1544 (22 Apr 2026) statements track HCWS1063 and HCWS1536 verbatim, signalling no divergence between the two Houses on Government policy on the Bill.Apr 2026Nov 2025
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
High confidence
On the new regime overall: welcomes the Joint Framework and Bill as a 'chance to reset the investigation process' but finds they only 'partially fill the gap' on accountability — flagging concerns about absence of an explicit ECHR-compliance requirement on the face of the Bill, the architecture for conflicts of interest, the Secretary of State's residual role in disclosure decisions, the lack of transparency over the clause 9 consultee list, and inadequate resourcing.Dec 2025Dec 2025Dec 2025Dec 2025Dec 2025Dec 2025Dec 2025
Tension with Northern Ireland Office
Joint Committee on Human Rights
High confidence
On the Remedial Order pathway: published two scrutiny reports (1st Report Feb 2025 on the proposed Order, 9th Report Dec 2025 on the revised draft) setting the human-rights baseline; the JCHR's representations are explicitly addressed in the Government's October 2025 response laid alongside the revised Order.Feb 2025Dec 2025
Law Society of Northern Ireland
High confidence
On the Bill as introduced: welcomes the revised framework as 'an important opportunity for the UK and Ireland to deliver a bilateral, victims-centred and human rights compliant approach' — quoted in the King's Speech 2026 Background Briefing Notes.May 2026
Royal British Legion
High confidence
On veteran-specific safeguards: 'pleased' with the Bill's protections against repeated investigations and welfare provisions for those engaging with investigations, while supporting bereaved Armed Forces families' continued pursuit of answers — quoted in the King's Speech 2026 Background Briefing Notes.May 2026
Amnesty International UK and the Committee on the Administration of Justice
Low confidence
Joint correspondence to the NI Affairs Committee on 18 July 2025 raised concerns about the Government's evolving approach to legacy in advance of the Bill's introduction — the corpus carries the correspondence but not the substantive line, so the position is grounded as engaged-and-critical rather than specified.Jul 2025
Government of Ireland
High confidence
Committed under the 19 September 2025 Joint Framework to establishing a dedicated Troubles unit within An Garda Síochána, AGS investigation of all unresolved Troubles-related incidents within Irish jurisdiction, and the fullest possible information sharing with the reformed Legacy Commission; parallel Irish legislation is to follow.Sep 2025May 2026