Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Interim Custody Orders: Compensation

Wednesday 21 May 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial questions addressed compensation for individuals detained under interim custody orders during the Northern Ireland troubles.
  • The Government are considering the report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights regarding compensation issues.
  • The Government withdrew an appeal after the courts found certain clauses to be unlawful.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Desmond Swayne Con New Forest West
Justice & Courts Northern Ireland Standards & Ethics
Context

The issue arose following a Supreme Court judgment in 2020, which found certain custody orders to be unlawful. The amendment to the legacy Act was also found unlawful by the Northern Ireland courts.

Question

If he will take steps to ensure that compensation is not paid to people detained using interim custody orders during the troubles in Northern Ireland.

Answer from The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Hilary Benn)

The Government are currently considering the report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the representations made to it. We are carefully exploring how to lawfully address this complex issue alongside our commitment to implement legacy mechanisms that are fully compliant with human rights.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific reason for withholding remedial order or preventing compensation to Gerry Adams was not provided

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Q2 Alex Burghart Con Brentwood and Ongar
Justice & Courts Northern Ireland
Context

The High Court in Northern Ireland ruled that the legislation preventing taxpayer-funded compensation was incompatible with the European convention on human rights. The Conservative Government appealed this judgment, but when Labour came to power last summer, they dropped the appeal.

Question

Will the Secretary of State set out why the Government decided to drop that appeal?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Hilary Benn)

The courts found clauses 46 and 47 were unlawful. Although the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal was not obviously asked to rule on that, because we had withdrawn the appeal, it did comment unfavourably on those provisions. We supported clauses 46 and 47 at the time, but they have not worked, and that is why we have to find an alternative way forward.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific reason for dropping the appeal was not provided; instead, general commitment to finding a legal solution was stated

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