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Historical Institutional Abuse (Northern Ireland) Act 2019

Type Public General Act

Publication 2019-11-05

State In force

Department Statute Law Database

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API

PART 1 — The Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board

The Board

Establishment of the Board

1

(1) The Historical Institutional Abuse Redress Board is established (and referred to in this Act as “the Board”).

(2) Schedule 1 makes further provision about the Board.

Entitlement to compensation

Entitlement to claim compensation

2

(1) An application for compensation under this Part may be made by or in respect of a person who suffered abuse while a child and while resident in an institution at some time between 1922 and 1995 (both inclusive); but this is subject to sections 3 and 4.

(2) A reference to having suffered abuse is a reference to—

(a) having suffered sexual, physical or emotional abuse or neglect or maltreatment,

(b) having witnessed one or more other children suffer abuse of a kind referred to in paragraph (a),

(d) having been sent to Australia under the programme commonly known as the “Child Migrants Programme”.

(3) “Institution” means an institution in Northern Ireland in which a body, society or organisation with responsibility for the care, health and welfare of children provided residential accommodation for children, took decisions about them and made provision for their day-to-day care.

(4) A reference to an institution does not include a reference to an institution at which education was provided, other than—

(a) a school certified under the Children Act 1908,

(b) a training school under the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 1950 or 1968,

(d) a young offenders centre under the Treatment of Offenders Act (Northern Ireland) 1968.

(5) A reference to being resident in an institution includes a reference to being absent from the institution while under the care of—

(a) the body, society or organisation which provided residential accommodation for the child in the institution, or

(b) a person authorised by that body, society or organisation.

(6) But subsection (5) does not apply to a case within subsection (2)(c); and subsection (2)(c) is accordingly to be read as referring only to a person who was exposed to a harsh environment while in the institution in question.

(7) The reference in subsection (1) to a person who suffered abuse while resident in an institution is, in a case within subsection (2)(d), to be read as a reference to a person who was resident in an institution immediately before being sent to Australia as mentioned in that provision.

Restrictions on entitlement to claim compensation

3

(1) An application for compensation under this Part may not be made in respect of a person who died before 28 April 1953.

(2) An application for compensation for having suffered the abuse referred to in section 2(2)(d) may be made under this Part only—

(a) in respect of a person who died on or after 28 April 1953 and before 1 March 2018,

(b) in respect of a person who died on or after 1 March 2018 and in respect of whom compensation has not been awarded, and no application for compensation is pending, under the IICSA scheme for having suffered that abuse, or

(c) by a person who has not been awarded compensation, and who does not have an application for compensation pending, under the IICSA scheme for having suffered that abuse.

(3) Subsection (2)(b) or (c) does not prevent an application for compensation for having suffered the abuse referred to in section 2(2)(d) being made under this Part if the applicant withdraws the application under the IICSA scheme.

(4) In this section, “the IICSA scheme” means a scheme for compensation established by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom in response to the inquiry established under section 1 of the Inquiries Act 2005 and known as the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Exclusions from entitlement to claim compensation

4

(1) An application for compensation may (subject to subsections (3) to (5)) not be made under this Part by or in respect of a person who suffered abuse if—

(a) a court has dismissed a claim arising from a relevant matter brought by or in respect of that person, or

(b) proceedings on a claim arising from a relevant matter brought by or in respect of that person against a government department (including a Northern Ireland department) or other public body or any other body, society or organisation are pending before a court.

(2) A “relevant matter” is a matter on which an application for compensation under this Part could be based, but for subsection (1)(a) or (b).

(3) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply if the claim in question was dismissed solely because the period of limitation for bringing proceedings on the claim had expired.

(4) Subsection (1)(b) does not prevent an application for compensation being made under this Part if the claimant withdraws the claim in question.

(5) An application for compensation may be made under this Part despite subsection (1)(a) or (b) if it relates to abuse suffered in an institution managed by a body, society or organisation other than a body, society or organisation which managed any institution to which the claim referred to in subsection (1)(a) or (b) related.

(6) The reference in subsection (5) to managing an institution is a reference to providing residential accommodation in that institution.

Application for compensation

5

(1) An application for compensation under this Part must be made to the Board.

(2) The application must be made before the end of the period of five years beginning with the date on which the establishment of the Board is advertised in the Belfast Gazette.

(3) In the case of each person by or in respect of whom an application for compensation under this Part for the person having suffered abuse may be made—

(a) only one application may be made, but

(b) that application may relate to more than one institution.

(4) The application must be made in accordance with such provision as may be made in rules.

(5) Rules must include provision for the material which may be provided in support of an application for compensation under this Part to include material in the form of audio or video recordings.

Entitlement to claim compensation in respect of deceased person

6

(1) In the case of a person who died on or after 28 April 1953, an application for compensation under this Part may (subject to subsection (2)) be made only by—

(a) the deceased's surviving spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner, if that person is a residuary beneficiary of the deceased's estate;

(b) any surviving child of the deceased, if that person is a residuary beneficiary of the deceased's estate.

(2) In a case where the surviving spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner, or a surviving child, of a person who died on or after 28 April 1953 is a beneficiary of the deceased's estate, but not a residuary beneficiary, a panel appointed by the President of the Board may, on behalf of the Board, agree to receive an application for compensation under this Part from that person if the panel considers that it would be in the interests of justice to do so.

(3) An application for compensation under this Part may be made jointly by two or more of the persons entitled to apply under subsection (1) or (2); and, in the case of such an application, any reference in this Act to a person making an application under this Part is to be read as a reference to those persons acting jointly.

(4) Where an applicant for compensation under this Part dies before the application is determined, the application may continue to proceed in accordance with provision made in rules.

(5) A person is the surviving cohabiting partner of a deceased person if, immediately before the death, they were not married to, or civil partners of, each other but were living together as if they were.

(6) A reference in this section to a residuary beneficiary of a deceased person's estate is a reference to a person who is a beneficiary of some or all of the deceased's residuary estate under the deceased's will or under the law of intestacy in the country or territory in which the deceased was residing at the time of death.

(7) A reference in this section to a beneficiary of a deceased person's estate other than a residuary beneficiary is to be read in light of subsection (6).

(8) In this section, “child”, in relation to a person, does not include a step-child of that person or a child of that person's civil partner or cohabiting partner; and a reference in this section to a child is not limited to a person aged under 18.

(9) A panel appointed under subsection (2) is to consist of—

(a) one judicial member of the Board, who is to be the chair of the panel, and

(b) two other members of the Board, neither of whom is a judicial member.

Determination of application

Priority of applications

7

(1) It is for the President of the Board to decide the order of priority in which applications for compensation under this Part are to be determined.

(2) In making a decision under subsection (1), the President must have particular regard to—

(a) the age of each applicant, and

(b) in so far as it is disclosed on the application, the health of each applicant.

Appointment of panel

8

(1) An application for compensation under this Part is to be determined on behalf of the Board by a panel appointed by the President of the Board.

(2) A panel appointed under this section is to consist of—

(a) one judicial member of the Board, who is to be the chair of the panel, and

(b) two other members of the Board, neither of whom is a judicial member.

(3) The panel must determine—

(a) whether compensation should be awarded on the application, and

(b) if so, the amount of compensation that should be awarded.

(4) A panel appointed under section 6(2) may determine any application which it agreed to receive under that provision (as well as any other application for compensation under this Part); and, where it does so, the panel is to be treated for the purposes of this Act as if it had been appointed under this section.

Procedure

9

(1) An application for compensation under this Part is to be determined by the panel appointed under section 8 on the basis of—

(a) any material provided in support of the application,

(b) any material provided in response to a request by the panel (whether the request is made to the applicant, made for the purposes of subsection (2) or made for some other purpose),

(d) any evidence provided or given pursuant to a notice under section 10,

(e) any advice from an advisor appointed under section 11, and

(f) any other material which the panel considers relevant.

(2) The panel must, in so far as it is practicable to do so and in accordance with such provision as may be made in rules, request the body, society or organisation which provided residential accommodation in an institution to which the application relates to provide whatever information would enable the panel to verify the accuracy of information provided in support of the application.

(3) The panel may, if it considers that there are exceptional circumstances which make it necessary to do so in the interests of justice—

(a) allow fresh evidence to be admitted;

(b) direct an oral hearing to be held with the evidence to be given on oath.

(4) An oral hearing directed by the panel under subsection (3)(b) is to be held in private unless the panel considers that it would be in the interests of justice for the hearing to be held in public.

(5) Where the panel decides that it needs access to the records of the Inquiry in order to determine the application, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland must allow the panel access to those records in accordance with whatever restrictions are in force under section 8 of the Inquiry into Historical Institutional Abuse Act (Northern Ireland) 2013.

(6) The entitlement to compensation on the application is not affected by—

(a) whether or not any matters to which the application relates were reported to the police;

(b) whether or not the person by or in respect of whom the application is made provided evidence to the Inquiry;

(7) After the panel has determined the application, the secretary to the Board must notify the applicant in writing of the determination; and the notification must be accompanied by a summary of the panel's reasons for the determination.

(8) The duty under subsection (2) does not arise if the person by or in respect of whom the application is made provided evidence to the Inquiry.

(9) In this section, “the Inquiry” means the inquiry held under the Inquiry into Historical Institutional Abuse Act (Northern Ireland) 2013; but the references in this section to the Inquiry do not include a reference to that part of the Inquiry described in its terms of reference as the Acknowledgement Forum.

Power to compel giving of evidence

10

(1) For the purpose of determining an application for compensation under this Part, the panel appointed under section 8 may by notice in writing require a person—

(a) to provide the panel on or before a specified date with specified records, documents, objects or other items of evidence, or

(b) to attend on one or more specified dates a hearing convened by the panel and to give oral evidence on oath to the panel.

(2) A person to whom a notice under this section is given may make a claim to the panel that—

(a) the person is unable to comply with the notice, or

(b) it is not reasonable in all the circumstances to require the person to comply with the notice.

(3) On a claim under subsection (2), the panel may confirm, revoke or vary the notice.

(4) A person who is required by a notice under this section to provide records or documents must, if doing so would disclose information about another person which is irrelevant to the determination of the application under this Part and the disclosure of which would breach an obligation of confidence, provide the records or documents in a redacted form.

(5) A notice under this section has effect in spite of anything which would otherwise prohibit a person from complying with the notice.

(6) But a requirement of a notice does not have effect if—

(a) complying with the requirement would involve the disclosure of information which, although made in compliance with the requirement, would contravene the data protection legislation, or

(b) the person would be entitled in proceedings before the High Court in Northern Ireland to refuse to comply with the requirement.

(7) A person commits an offence if the person fails to comply with a requirement of a notice under this section.

(8) A person commits an offence if the person conceals, destroys, distorts or alters, or arranges for the concealment, destruction, distortion or alteration of anything required, or which there are reasonable grounds for believing might be required, to be provided to the panel by a notice under this section.

(9) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (7) or (8) is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale or both.

(10) In this section, “the data protection legislation” has the same meaning as in the Data Protection Act 2018 (see section 3 of that Act).

Advisors

11

(1) The Board may appoint one or more persons to act as advisors to the Board.

(2) A person may be appointed as an advisor only if it appears to the Board that the person has expertise that makes that person a suitable person to provide advice to the Board.

(3) The Board may at any time terminate the appointment of an advisor.

Award of compensation

Assessment of compensation

12

(1) The amount of an award of compensation under this Part is to be assessed by the panel appointed under section 8 in accordance with this section and section 13.

(2) The amount of compensation which may be awarded is—

(a) an amount of £10,000,

(b) an amount not exceeding £70,000 if the panel is satisfied that an additional amount is justified by the severity of the matters raised by the application, and

(c) an amount of £20,000 if the application is made by or in respect of a person who was sent to Australia under the programme commonly known as the “Child Migrants Programme”.

(3) Accordingly, the maximum amount of compensation which may be awarded on an application under this Part is—

(a) £80,000, or

(b) if the application is made by or in respect of a person who was sent to Australia under the programme commonly known as the “Child Migrants Programme”, £100,000.

(4) A person entitled to compensation under subsection (2)(c) is entitled to compensation under subsection (2)(a) or (b) only if the panel has determined that the person by or in respect of whom the application is made also suffered the abuse referred to in section 2(2)(a), (b) or (c) (abuse in institution in Northern Ireland).

(5) In a case where more than one person is entitled to compensation by virtue of section 6, the proportion of the compensation to which each person is entitled is—

(a) the proportion which that person's share of the deceased's residuary estate bears to the total of the shares of every other person entitled to the compensation, or

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