British government Legacy Act has retraumatised Troubles victims, legal challenge hears

Troubles victim Martina Dillon (centre) speak to the media outside Belfast High Court at the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a hearing for a legal challenge brought by victims of the Northern Ireland conflict against the UK Government’s widely opposed Troubles Act (Liam McBurney/PA)

New UK government laws to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles have had the effect of retraumatising victims, a court has been told.

Beginning a legal challenge to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act at Belfast High Court, barrister John Larkin KC also said that a new commission which will take over thousands of unsolved deaths would be the “only show in town” for victims but that its architecture was “inadequate” and “defective”.