On 11 December 1996, the Minister for Justice, Mrs Nora Owen, TD, announced the publication of the Decommissioning Bill, 1996. This legislation aims to implement the recommendations of the International Body's Report, chaired by Senator George Mitchell, which was presented to the Irish and British Governments in January of the same year. The Bill establishes a statutory framework for the decommissioning of arms, aligning with the terms of the Report that both governments had accepted and widely welcomed. Mrs Owen expressed optimism that the Bill, along with the corresponding Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Bill recently published by the British Government, would facilitate progress in the Northern Ireland Talks, enabling substantive negotiations on decommissioning to commence swiftly. Key provisions of the Bill include regulations for decommissioning methods, the establishment of an independent commission by both governments, prohibitions on legal proceedings related to decommissioning acts, and restrictions on forensic examination of decommissioned arms to ensure they are not used as evidence in criminal proceedings.
(To go a specific resource item, please click on its link.)
None
None
Copyright
None
Physical Copy Information
None
Digital Copy Information
None