I recognise that my right hon. Friend and the Government are doing their level best in good faith to deal with a sensitive and intractable situation. Does he recognise that the establishment of the Goldstone commission in South Africa, which is not an exact parallel but has similarities, was itself beset by considerable controversy at the beginning, but its ultimate success was largely due to the stature and integrity of Justice Richard Goldstone as its chair? He was a former Supreme Court judge of South Africa and a former prosecutor for the international tribunals in both Yugoslavia and Rwanda, so a man of impeccable integrity and independence. Will my right hon. Friend make sure that, when we look for someone to be the chief commissioner, that is exactly the sort of person we will seek—someone with experience in these jurisdictions, but not necessarily even from the UK jurisdiction? Having someone of that level of standing will be critical, will it not, for the credibility of the decisions that the commission will be entrusted with?
Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Robert Neill
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 24 May 2022.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.
About this proceeding contribution
Reference
715 c180 Session
2022-23Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamberSubjects
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2022-06-27 17:01:30 +0100
URI
http://hansard.intranet.data.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-05-24/22052417000066
In Indexing
http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://hansard.intranet.data.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-05-24/22052417000066
In Solr
https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://hansard.intranet.data.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-05-24/22052417000066