Head of Kenova, Sir Iain Livingstone, has written to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland requesting an update on several recommendations made in the interim report.
In the letter to the Rt Hon Hilary Benn, dated 18 December 2024, Sir Iain explained how he plans to include details of progress made against all 10 of the recommendations in Kenova's final report which is set to be published in 2025.
The recommendations of the Kenova Interim Report, which was published in March, include:
- The setting up of an independent framework for investigating legacy cases, and a legal obligation on public authorities to cooperate with and disclose information and records to those operating under this framework.
- Procedural time limits for the handling of legacy cases and the resourcing and operating practices of the Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland.
- Designating 21 June, the longest day, to remember those lost, injured or harmed as a result of the Troubles.
- Review, codify and define the proper limits of the NCND policy as it relates to the identification of agents and its application in the context of Northern Ireland legacy cases
predating the Good Friday Agreement.
- Review the security classification of previous Northern Ireland legacy reports in order that their contents and (at the very least) their principal conclusions and recommendations can be declassified and made public.
- The United Kingdom government should acknowledge and apologise to bereaved families and surviving victims affected by cases where an individual was harmed or murdered because they were accused or suspected of being an agent and where this was preventable or where the perpetrators could and should have been subjected to criminal justice
and were not.
- The republican leadership should issue a full apology for PIRA's abduction, torture and murder of those it accused or suspected of being agents during the Troubles and
acknowledge the loss and unacceptable intimidation bereaved families and surviving victims have suffered.
You can read the full letter here.