Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland : Implementing the Stormont House Agreement

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Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland:
Implementing the Stormont House Agreement
Monday 18 May
09.30-17.00
Conor Lecture Theatre, Ulster University, York Street
Conference organised by Amnesty International, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), Institute of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice (QUB) and the Transitional Justice Institute (Ulster University)
The December 2014 Stormont House Agreement provides for a set of new institutions to deal with the past in Northern Ireland namely:
- The Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) ‘an independent body to take forward investigations into outstanding Troubles-related deaths’
- An Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR) ‘to enable victims and survivors to seek and privately receive information about the deaths of their next of kin’
- An Oral History Archive ‘ to provide a central place to share experiences and narratives related to the Troubles’
- An Implementation and Reconciliation Group ‘to oversee themes, archives, and information recovery’
The SHA also provides that recommendations for services for victims and survivors including a Mental Trauma Service.
The implementation of the above SHA commitments will require detailed legislation. Government plans that draft legislation will be published for consultation this summer, with it then being introduced into Westminster in the autumn term.
This conference brings together expertise in academia, NGOs and other practitioners to discuss, examine and provide an independent perspective on the key elements of such legislation.

The conference will include:
Presentations from members of an expert drafting group established as part of collaborative a QUB Business Alliance Project between CAJ and QUB School of Law, led by Professor Kieran McEvoy, who have been working on shadow legislation in parallel to the official process.
Presentations by Transitional Justice Institute researchers on the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval and Oral History Archives.
Presentation by Amnesty International of a human rights analysis of the proposed Historic Investigations Unit.

To RSVP or for more information please contact Emma Patterson-Bennett
Email: [email protected] or Tele: 02890316016