A Governance Board which will provide families and interested parties with further reassurance regarding the Article 2 ECHR compliance of Kenova has been set up.
The board, which will examine the business functions and broad investigative structures of Kenova met for the first time on 2 June and was formally announced by Kenova lead Jon Boutcher in a written submission to the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee in which he outlined how the investigation is addressing some of the country’s legacy issues.
The NIASC had asked for Mr Boutcher’s views on:
• Operation Kenova’s approach to its investigations process and management of cases;
• What steps the Operation Kenova team takes to try to ensure that its investigations are ECHR Article 2 compliant;
• How those working under Operation Kenova manage family liaison and engagement and maintain confidence in the process from victims, families and interested parties;
• The role and importance of the Independent Steering Group and Victims Focus Group in Operation Kenova;
• What lessons the Government could learn from Operation Kenova and apply to its new legacy investigations process; and
• Any other comments you might like to make on the Government’s new plans for legacy investigations.
Mr Boutcher’s full written submission in response to these questions can be viewed here, the relevant appendices are available via the links at the bottom of this page.
The membership of the Governance Board is;
Professor Monica McWilliams
Bertha McDougall OBE
Sir John Chilcot GCB
Reverend Harold Good OBE
Father Martin McGill
Iain Livingston QPM - Chief Constable Police Scotland
The above non-executive board members will not have access to, or influence upon, the ongoing investigations - that remains the responsibility of the Independent Steering Group (ISG). The Governance Board will, however, ensure the ISG is functioning properly and is able to conduct its role, this will include examining independent reviews of Kenova such as the ongoing work of the Victims Focus Group (VFG) who will be invited to address the Board on the approach towards victims and their families.
The Governance Board, which will meet quarterly, will ultimately be provided with the reports produced by Kenova that set out the findings of our investigations to ensure the reports have been through thorough investigative and legal due diligence providing further reassurance as regard the report content.
Full details of the membership of the board can be viewed here.
Links:
• Appendix A The Kilpatrick interim ECHR report
• Appendix B The Operation Kenova ECHR framework document
• Appendix C The Operation Kenova Family Liaison Strategy
• Appendix D The Submission to ‘Addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s Past’ dated 5 October 2018