Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams is in line for “a pay day from the taxpayer” as the government plans to remove a block on former Troubles internees getting compensation, a report has claimed.
Currently, the law blocks him and others interned without trial in the 1970s from claiming compensation for unlawful detention.
But the Policy Exchange thinktank has criticised the government’s plans to lift the ban in a report backed by 16 peers, including shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson KC.
Labour have started the process of repealing the Legacy Act and said the previous Conservative government’s approach to the Troubles’ legacy was “almost universally opposed in Northern Ireland”.
In 2020, a Supreme Court judgement paved the way for Mr Adams to receive damages after he successfully appealed convictions for two attempted prison breaks after he was interned without trial in 1973.
The Supreme Court ruled his detention was unlawful because the interim custody order (ICO) used to initially detain him had not been “considered personally” by then secretary of state for Northern Ireland Willie Whitelaw.
The previous Conservative government argued the ICOS was lawful due to a convention known as the Carltona principle, where officials and junior ministers routinely act in the name of the secretary of state.
However, a clause was inserted into the Legacy Act that stopped payouts to Mr Adams and about 400 other people interned in similar error.
Last February, the High Court in Belfast ruled the parts of the act related to the ICOs were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The current government has now tabled a remedial order in parliament to repeal various parts of the Legacy Act, including the sections on ICOs.
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Commenting on the Policy Exchange paper, Conservative shadow attorney general Lord Wolfson said: “The government’s decision to repeal sections 46 and 47 of the Northern Troubles Act 2023 is inexplicable and unexplained.
“Policy Exchange’s compelling new paper lays bare the many constitutional and practical problems to which this decision gives rise.
“Parliament must now ask hard questions about why the government is determined to override parliament’s recent, unanimous decision to vindicate the Carltona principle and to block Gerry Adams from being paid public money.
“The government’s defence of its decision to abandon a winnable appeal – that this signals its “absolute commitment” to the Human Rights Act – makes no sense and warrants the sharp criticism that this paper ably provides.”
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In response to the paper, a government spokesperson said: “The last government’s approach to legacy was almost universally opposed in Northern Ireland.
“During the Legacy Act’s passage through parliament, that government belatedly agreed to an amendment on the custody orders, despite the original ruling having been made all the way back in 2020.
“Last year, that amendment was ruled by the Northern Ireland courts to be unlawful and therefore it needs to be repealed.
“It should not be forgotten that the Legacy Act also included a scheme that allowed for immunity from prosecution, including for those who committed the most appalling terrorist crimes.
“We are also repealing these unlawful provisions – and will be bringing forward new primary legislation to address the full range of legacy issues.
“We must never forget that the vast majority of deaths and injuries during the Troubles were caused by acts of terrorism.”
