The Committee today heard evidence from the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner, the NI Veterans Movement, the Retired Police Officers Association and Ulster Human Rights Watch.
Speaking afterwards Mr Robinson said, “It is important to recognise that none of those giving evidence to the Committee today were opposed to the principle of inquests, but significant questions were raised about the unfairness of the process and why there is no need for any reintroduction of inquests into troubles deaths.
Some recent inquests have strayed beyond the role of what an inquest is to establish, which is to decide what happened, where, when, how and to whom it happened. It is not the role of an inquest to look at why it happened yet there has been an encroachment into that space seemingly using an inquest as a preparatory tool for further prosecution opportunities.
We have also seen significant differences in findings, where in one case the coroner clearly outlined the context and environment in preceding days to explain how this could have impacted upon the events. In another case from the same coroner however, there is no such contextualisation or even acknowledgement of events leading up to that under consideration.
Significantly the Committee heard that the Secretary of State is apparently preparing to remove the only significant issue that has been raised in defence of the need for inquests, which is the involvement of next of kin in the process.
The Government won last year's General Election with a pledge to repeal and replace the Legacy Act. They clearly have no intention of doing so, but it's high time for the sake of victims, they outline that course they intend to chart.”