Derry native Sir Declan Morgan to lead new independent NI Troubles body

NI Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris confirmed that the appointment will take place following the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill receiving Royal Assent and the establishment of the ICRIR, taking account of any further considerations and final requirements of Parliament.

The British government said the new ICRIR is a key component of the Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.

The NIO said it ‘represents the Government’s pledge to address the extremely complex and sensitive legacy of Northern Ireland’s past’ and was being established as an arm’s length body that will operate independently of government.

Sir Declan, a former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, will begin work from early next month to identify other Commissioners and to consider how the new Commission will carry out its role.

He will lead the process to recruit the Commissioner for Investigations.

Confirming the announcement via a written ministerial statement to Parliament, Mr Heaton-Harris said: "Sir Declan brings a wealth of experience from his previous role as former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland from 2009-2021. A hallmark of his distinguished career has been his commitment to addressing Northern Ireland’s past. I am confident that he will bring the highest level of experience, expertise and integrity to this post which will help build public confidence in the ICRIR.”

The ICRIR is to be led by a Board consisting of a number of Commissioners, which will have collective responsibility for setting the strategic direction of the ICRIR to enable it to deliver its functions which are: To carry out reviews of deaths that were caused by conduct forming part of the Troubles; To carry out reviews of other harmful conduct forming part of the Troubles; To produce reports on the findings of each of the reviews of deaths and other harmful conduct; To determine whether to grant persons immunity from prosecution for serious or connected Troubles-related offences other than Troubles-related sexual offences; To refer deaths that were caused by conduct forming part of the Troubles, and other harmful conduct forming part of the Troubles, to prosecutors; and To produce a record of deaths that were caused by conduct forming part of the Troubles.

Sir Declan Morgan was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 1976 and became a Queen’s Counsel in 1993. Between 2002 and 2004, he was Senior Crown Counsel for Northern Ireland. He also served for a time as Judge-In-Residence at the School of Law of Queen’s University Belfast.

In 2004, Sir Declan was appointed a judge of the High Court and knighted. In 2007, he was appointed to the Family Division of the Court, and in 2008 moved to hearing cases for judicial review. He succeeded Sir Brian Kerr as Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland on 3 July 2009. Sir Declan retired as Lord Chief Justice in July 2021.

In August 2021, Sir Declan was appointed a Supplementary Panel member of the UK Supreme Court. In May 2022 he was appointed by the Prime Minister as a Judicial Commissioner to support the work of Sir Brian Leveson, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner.