Twenty Years after: Statute of Limitations and the Asymmetric Burdens of Justice in Northern Ireland and Post-war Germany. Issue 4 (3rd September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chung, C K Martin
• Is Part Of: Parliamentary affairs. Volume 74:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 979
• Page End: 1004
• Publication Date: 2020-09-03
• Subjects: statute of limitations -- amnesty -- transitional justice -- Northern Ireland -- Vergangenheitsbewältigung; Representative government and representation -- Periodicals; Legislative bodies -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Legislative bodies; Political science; Representative government and representation; Great Britain; Periodicals; Periodicals; 328.4105
• DOI: 10.1093/pa/gsaa055
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0031-2290

Abstract

Abstract: In 2018, that is 20 years after the conclusion of the Belfast Agreement ending the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland known as the 'Troubles', the UK Government started a consultation on dealing with its legacy. The House of Commons Defence Committee proposes the enactment of a statute of limitations to shield veterans from further investigations into Troubles-related crimes. It would represent a 'balanced' approach to justice, as some paramilitary combatants had also received de facto amnesty through various schemes. This article argues that given the involvement of the British state in the historical conflict, a 'balanced' approach to dealing with the past is inadequate. Drawing on parallel parliamentary debates in Germany that began around 1965, that is also 20 years after the end of conflict, the article makes the case that an asymmetric approach is both promising and necessary for the reconciliation process to move forward.