Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023

Interpretation

13 (1) In this Part of this Schedule—

• “affected report” has the meaning given in paragraph 7(c);

• “appeal court” means—

  (a)

  the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland,

  (b)

  the Court of Appeal in England and Wales, or

  (c)

  the Inner House of the Court of Session;

• “further appeal” has the meaning given in paragraph 11;

• “initial appeal” has the meaning given in paragraph 9;

• “JSA 2013” means the Justice and Security Act 2013;

• “proposed disclosure” has the meaning given in paragraph 7(a);

• “relevant court” means—

  (a)

  the High Court in Northern Ireland,

  (b)

  the High Court in England and Wales, or

  (c)

  the Outer House of the Court of Session.

(2) Expressions used in this Part of this Schedule and in sections 9 to 15 have the same meanings in this Part as in those sections.

(3) For the purposes of bringing an initial appeal a person “would be eligible to request a review” if, at the time of bringing the initial appeal, the person would be entitled to make a request under—

(a) section 9 for a review of the death to which the affected report relates, or

(b) section 10 for a review of the other Troubles-related circumstances to which the affected report relates;

and, in determining whether the person would be entitled to make the request, the fact that a review has already been requested must be ignored.

(4) The following provisions apply to a determination (for the purposes of sub-paragraph (3)) of whether a person would be entitled to make a request under section 9.

(5) In the case of a request under section 9(2), it is for the relevant court (rather than the Commissioner for Investigations) to decide the person’s entitlement to make the request (and accordingly section 9(7) does not apply).

(6) In determining for the purposes of this Schedule whether a person is, under Schedule 3, a close family member of D, paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 3 has effect as if the following provision were substituted for paragraph (f)—

“(f) was a step-parent of D on the day of D’s death or is a step-parent of D on—

(i) the day on which the request for the review is made, or

(ii) the day when the initial appeal is brought;”.