Insights from Lawyers, Conflict & Transition research applied to Northern Ireland

Members of the Lawyers, Conflict & Transition team have been involved in  a collaborative QUB Business Alliance Project between QUB School of Law and the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), led by Professor Kieran McEvoy.

The main purpose of the project was to develop shadow legislation for the Dealing with the Past elements of the Stormont House Agreement.

Those involved in the drafting committee are: Professor Kieran McEvoy (QUB),  Professor Louise Mallinder (TJI, Ulster University), Dr Anna Bryson (QUB), Brian Gormally (CAJ), Daniel Holder (CAJ), Jeremy Hill (Visiting Fellow, TJI) and Gemma McKeown (CAJ). The group instructed Daniel Greenberg, a barrister specialising in legislation, to draft provisions for the Model Bill.

The attached Model Bill is based on the provisions of the Stormont House Agreement and is designed to provide a benchmark for what the Bill should look like if the Agreement is legislated for in good faith. It builds on extensive consultation with the two governments and civil society in Northern Ireland. Insights drawn from our research on the role of lawyers in Dealing with the Past in Cambodia, Chile, Israel, Palestine, Tunisia and South Africa have naturally informed these deliberations on Northern Ireland.

Detailed explanatory notes have been drawn up to assist readers of the Model Bill and to help inform debate on it.

Further context is also provided in the report and papers of a project conference that was held in May 2015.