The Republic of Ireland on Wednesday announced plans to take legal action against the United Kingdom over a law that grants immunity for most offenses — for British soldiers and former Irish paramilitaries alike — committed during the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland.

The legal challenge to the Legacy and Reconciliation Bill is to be made in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

What is the Northern Ireland amnesty law?

The Legacy and Reconciliation Bill passed in September and stops most prosecutions over alleged killings by militant groups and British soldiers in Northern Ireland, in the decades of conflict often referred to locally as "The Troubles." 

Roughly 3,500 people were killed in the conflict, which began in the late 1960s and ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement.

Under the law, those who cooperate with the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery can be granted immunity from prosecution. It also halts future civil cases and legacy inquests.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the bill would enable Northern Ireland to "draw a line under the Troubles."

Critics have argued that in passing the bill, British authorities aimed to shield former military personnel from justice.

It has been deeply unpopular in Northern Ireland among both unionists, who prefer being part of the UK, and republicans advocating a united Ireland.

What did Irish authorities say about the law?

The Republic of Ireland's government launched the legal challenge "after much thought and careful consideration," Deputy Prime Minister (or Tanaiste) Micheal Martin said.

"I regret that we find ourselves in a position where such a choice had to be made," he said, arguing that the immunity provisions would "shut down existing avenues to truth and justice for historic cases."

"Even in cases in which immunity is not granted, reviews by the proposed body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, are not an adequate substitute for police investigations, carried out independently, adequately, and with sufficient participation of next of kin," he said.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the British government's Northern Ireland secretary, responded critically, saying the Republic of Ireland's decision was "hard to reconcile" with what he said was a patchy record prosecuting crimes from the era. 

"At no time since [the Good Friday peace agreement in] 1998 has there been any concerted or sustained attempt on the part of the Irish to pursue a criminal investigation and prosecution-based approach to the past," Heaton-Harris alleged.

Some Irish republicans active in Northern Ireland in the era had ties to or operated from south of the border.

Amnesty International welcomed Dublin's legal challenge to the bill. The deputy director of the organization's Northern Ireland branch, Grainne Teggart, said that London had "doggedly pursued this legislation which shields perpetrators of serious human rights violations from being held accountable."

"This challenge is vital for victims here and around the world who face the prospect of similar state-gifted impunity," she said.

sdi/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)