Volker Türk, the UN’s human-rights chief, has hailed a new Anglo-Irish accord on dealing with the legacy of Northern Ireland’s bloody past. The Joint Framework, agreed between London and Dublin, is meant to remedy the defects of the British government’s 2023 Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act, which critics said contravened international human-rights norms by granting conditional immunity to perpetrators and curbing victims’ access to the courts.

If implemented as promised, the new arrangement would scrap those immunities, reopen the door to civil proceedings, and empower a Legacy Commission to mount investigations robust enough to lead to prosecutions. It would also include safeguards for independence and oversight, as well as formal channels for victims and survivors to shape the process.

The Troubles, a sectarian conflict that formally ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, left more than 3,500 dead and tens of thousands scarred. Nearly three decades on, many families still await justice. Türk welcomed the Framework as a chance to place victims’ rights “at the heart” of reconciliation if, that is, both governments follow through.