Legislation – Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023

In this Act, each expression set out in an entry in the first column of the following table is to be read in accordance with the corresponding entry in the second column—

Expression	Interpretation
Chief Commissioner	The Commissioner appointed under section 2(3)(a).
chief officer	This means— the chief constable of a police force maintained under section 2 of the Police Act 1996 (police forces in England and Wales outside London); the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; the Commissioner of Police for the City of London; the chief constable of the Police Service of Scotland; the chief constable of the Ministry of Defence Police; the chief constable of the British Transport Police.
Commissioner for Investigations	The Commissioner appointed under section 2(3)(b).
Commissioners	The members of the ICRIR appointed under section 2(3)(a), (b) and (c).
conduct	This has the meaning given in section 1.
conduct forming part of the Troubles	This has the meaning given in section 1.
connected Troubles-related offence	This has the meaning given in section 1.
event forming part of the Troubles	This has the meaning given in section 1.
excepted matter	This has the meaning given by section 4(1) ofthe Northern Ireland Act 1998.
final report	A report under section 15 on the findings of a review of a death or a review of other harmful conduct forming part of the Troubles.
financial year	This has the meaning given in section 2(14).
GCHQ	This has the same meaning as in the Intelligence Services Act 1994.
His Majesty’s forces	This has the same meaning as in the Armed Forces Act 2006 (see section 374 of that Act).
historical record	This has the meaning given in section 2(5)(f).
the ICRIR	The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.
ICRIR contractor	A person providing, or being employed in the provision of, goods or services for the purposes of the ICRIR.
ICRIR officers	This has the meaning given in section 3(4).
immunity function	The function of determining whether to grant persons immunity from prosecution conferred by section 2(5)(d).
immunity requests panel	The panel formed in accordance with section 22.
inspector of constabulary for Northern Ireland	An inspector of constabulary for NorthernIreland (appointed under section 41 of thePolice (Northern Ireland) Act 1998).
legislation	Primary legislation and subordinate legislation.
national authority	This means has the meaning given in section 58(3)
Northern Ireland affairs	This has the meaning given in section 1.
other harmful conduct forming part of the Troubles	This has the meaning given in section 1.
period of operation of the ICRIR	The period beginning with the day on which section 2(5) comes into force.
police force in Great Britain	This means— a police force maintained under section 2 of the Police Act 1996 (police forces in England and Wales outside London); the metropolitan police force; the City of London police force; the Police Service of Scotland; the Ministry of Defence Police; the British Transport Police.
prejudicial information	Information which, if disclosed generally, would risk putting, or would put, the life or safety of any person at risk.
primary legislation	This means— Northern Ireland legislation (which has the meaning given in section 24(5) of the Interpretation Act 1978); an Act of Parliament; an Act of the Scottish Parliament; a Measure or Act of Senedd Cymru.
protected international information	Information which— (a) was supplied to any person by, or by an agency of, the government of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, and (b) if disclosed generally might, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, damage international relations.
PSNI	The Police Service of Northern Ireland.
relevant authority	This means— the Chief Constable of the PSNI; the chief officer of a police force in Great Britain; the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland; the Director General of the Independent Office for Police Conduct; the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner; any Minister of the Crown (which has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 — see section 8 of that Act); the Security Service; the Secret Intelligence Service; GCHQ; any other department of the United Kingdom government (including a non-ministerial department); a Northern Ireland department; the Scottish Ministers; any of His Majesty’s forces.
request for a review	A request for a review under section 9 or 10.
reserved matter	This has the meaning given by section 4(1) ofthe Northern Ireland Act 1998.
reserved provision	Provision which (if contained in a Bill for an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly) would result in the Bill requiring the consent of the Secretary of State under section 8(b) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
review function	The function of carrying out reviews conferred by section 2(5)(a) and (b).
sensitive information	This means information of the following kinds.
	Information which, if disclosed generally, would risk prejudicing, or would prejudice, the national security interests of the United Kingdom.
	Information which has been supplied (whether to the person currently holding the information or to some other person) by— (a) the Security Service, (b) the Secret Intelligence Service, (c) GCHQ, or (d) any part of the following bodies which engages in intelligence activities— (i) His Majesty’s forces; (ii) the Ministry of Defence; (iii) the PSNI; (iv) a police force in Great Britain.
serious physical or mental harm	This has the meaning given in section 1.
serious Troubles-related offence	This has the meaning given in section 1.
subject to affirmative procedure	This has the meaning given in section 59(3).
subject to negative procedure	This has the meaning given in section 59(4).
subordinate legislation	An instrument made under primary legislation
transferred matter	This has the meaning given by section 4(1) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
transferred provision	This means provision which— (a) would be within the legislative competence of the Assembly if it were contained in an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and (b) would deal with a transferred matter without being ancillary to other provision (whether in the Act or previously enacted) which deals with an excepted matter or reserved matter.
transferred provision	Here— (i) “ancillary” has the meaning given insection 6(3) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998; (ii) a reference to provision dealingwith a matter is to be read in accordance withsection 98(2) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
the Troubles	This has the meaning given in section 1.
Troubles-related offence	This has the meaning given in section 1.

(2)

A reference in this Act to the day on which a provision of this Act comes into force is, in a case where that provision comes into force at different times for different purposes, a reference to the day on which that provision comes into force for all purposes.