Member

On police misconduct, I recognise that this is a very sensitive issue, and one in which the noble Baroness has a keen interest and extensive experience of. Section 45 of the legacy Act deals with complaints relating to police conduct forming part of the Troubles. Specifically, this provision brought an end to Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland investigations and prevented new ones being commenced. The Court of Appeal found Section 45 to be incompatible with Articles 2 and 3, and this issue is not the subject of an appeal from the UK Government. On that basis, it would have been permissible to repeal or amend Article 45 in the draft remedial order. However, this issue requires engagement with the police and police oversight bodies, and there was limited time to do this between the final court order being agreed on 18 October and the laying of a proposed draft remedial order on 4 December.