Law and Rights
The Bloody Sunday Inquiry has issued its report and has found the 14 people who died that day to be innocent victims. David Cameron's speech in Parliament may be viewed via BBC. Mr Cameron stated Saville's principal findings and offered a clear apology to the families for what had happened.
Here are links:
Full Report - 10 volumes
The three Tribunal members opted to allow the report to speak for itself.
Addendum 16th June: - The Principal Conclusions document has 9 Chapters. Chapters 6 to 9 offer a detailed account of much of the history of Northern Ireland from the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to the weeks just prior to 30th January 1972. The Chapters are replete with hyperlinks to more detailed references and these Chapters merit a full reading in order to obtain a fuller understanding of the situation which came about in Northern Ireland.
Chapters 1 and 2 essentially set out the background to the Inquiry. The events of the day and responsibility for the deaths are addressed in Chapters 3-5. The findings speak for themselves. What the future holds now remains to be seen. There are some voices calling for prosecutions of some of the soldiers. There are other voices fearing that the concentration by the report on the one event will lead to a kind of "hierarchy of victims" most of which will not have had their deaths investigated as thoroughly - (but see Historical Enquiries Team). It is to be hoped that this report will go some way to assisting the process of reconciliation which is so necessary if Northern Ireland is to prosper in the future.
Addendum 16th June: - The UK Human Rights Blog has taken an interesting look at "Bloody Sunday, Human Rights and the duty to investigate deaths". Of course, Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights existed at the time of Bloody Sunday but what is now different is the clear obligation on States, which is implicit in Article 2, to carry out a thorough investigation. This is sometimes referred to as the "procedural aspect" of Article 2. The duty to investigate was set out by the European Court of Human Rights in McCann v U.K. (1996) 21 EHRR 97 and was clearly incorporated in English law by the House of Lords in R (Amin) Home Secretary [2003] UKHL 51.
Coroners have to investigate "how, when and where the deceased came by his death". The House of Lords has ruled that the word "how" includes "by what means" AND "in what circumstances" - R (Middleton) v West Somerset Coroner [2004] UKHL 10.
These developments provide a good example of how, over recent years, Human Rights law has improved the situation within the U.K.
- Hillsborough - Fresh Inquests - The Question Of Article 2 Compliance
On 19th December 2012, the Administrative Court granted a 'fresh inquest' application made by the Attorney-General under the Coroners Act 1988 section 13 - see HM Attorney General v HM Coroner for South Yorkshire (West) and HM Coroner for...
- Inquiries In Northern Ireland ... And Inquests
The Inquiry into the murder, on 15th March 1999, of Northern Ireland solicitor Rosemary Nelson has reported. She was killed by a bomb attached to her car and a "loyalist" group known as "Red Hand Defenders" claimed responsibility. The Rosemary...
- Inquest - London Bombs Of 7th July 2005
With Addendum of 15th May The Rt. Hon. Lady Justice Hallett DBE - Acting Deputy Coroner for Inner West London - has delivered a verdict of unlawful killing in relation to 52 deaths caused by the detonation of bombs in London on 7th July 2005 - often referred...
- Judges And Inquiries
From time-to-time the use of Judges to chair inquiries has been criticised but their use has continued. Writing in The Times (17th June - "The high price to be paid if judges examine our historical events") Lord Pannick QC points out that Ministers...
- Bloody Sunday Inquiry - Standard Of Proof
Central to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry is the question whether the shooting of civilians by soldiers was justified. In 2004, the Inquiry was asked to make a ruling as to the standard of proof which would be applied. The ruling may be read here. An...
Law and Rights
The Saville (Bloody Sunday) Report is issued
Here are links:
Full Report - 10 volumes
The three Tribunal members opted to allow the report to speak for itself.
Addendum 16th June: - The Principal Conclusions document has 9 Chapters. Chapters 6 to 9 offer a detailed account of much of the history of Northern Ireland from the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to the weeks just prior to 30th January 1972. The Chapters are replete with hyperlinks to more detailed references and these Chapters merit a full reading in order to obtain a fuller understanding of the situation which came about in Northern Ireland.
Addendum 16th June: - The UK Human Rights Blog has taken an interesting look at "Bloody Sunday, Human Rights and the duty to investigate deaths". Of course, Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights existed at the time of Bloody Sunday but what is now different is the clear obligation on States, which is implicit in Article 2, to carry out a thorough investigation. This is sometimes referred to as the "procedural aspect" of Article 2. The duty to investigate was set out by the European Court of Human Rights in McCann v U.K. (1996) 21 EHRR 97 and was clearly incorporated in English law by the House of Lords in R (Amin) Home Secretary [2003] UKHL 51.
Coroners have to investigate "how, when and where the deceased came by his death". The House of Lords has ruled that the word "how" includes "by what means" AND "in what circumstances" - R (Middleton) v West Somerset Coroner [2004] UKHL 10.
These developments provide a good example of how, over recent years, Human Rights law has improved the situation within the U.K.
- Hillsborough - Fresh Inquests - The Question Of Article 2 Compliance
On 19th December 2012, the Administrative Court granted a 'fresh inquest' application made by the Attorney-General under the Coroners Act 1988 section 13 - see HM Attorney General v HM Coroner for South Yorkshire (West) and HM Coroner for...
- Inquiries In Northern Ireland ... And Inquests
The Inquiry into the murder, on 15th March 1999, of Northern Ireland solicitor Rosemary Nelson has reported. She was killed by a bomb attached to her car and a "loyalist" group known as "Red Hand Defenders" claimed responsibility. The Rosemary...
- Inquest - London Bombs Of 7th July 2005
With Addendum of 15th May The Rt. Hon. Lady Justice Hallett DBE - Acting Deputy Coroner for Inner West London - has delivered a verdict of unlawful killing in relation to 52 deaths caused by the detonation of bombs in London on 7th July 2005 - often referred...
- Judges And Inquiries
From time-to-time the use of Judges to chair inquiries has been criticised but their use has continued. Writing in The Times (17th June - "The high price to be paid if judges examine our historical events") Lord Pannick QC points out that Ministers...
- Bloody Sunday Inquiry - Standard Of Proof
Central to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry is the question whether the shooting of civilians by soldiers was justified. In 2004, the Inquiry was asked to make a ruling as to the standard of proof which would be applied. The ruling may be read here. An...