Omagh civil action asks as many questions as it answers

The judgement in the Omagh Bomb civil action has led to speculation that many more victims and survivors of the conflict will consider taking civil actions against those they believe are responsible for the death and injury of their loved ones.

We have also heard reported that the judgement is being looked at internationally with a view to examining how the precedent could apply in civil actions taken in other countries.

I was in court when the judgement was delivered and what I witnessed was a mixture of profound relief amongst the families and survivors that they were finally able to hold someone accountable for these horrific and tragic events. Yet there was still an undercurrent of anger that it was only through their sheer dogged determination as a group of individuals and families that this had been achieved.

The Omagh Bomb civil action should not have happened. It is an indictment of our legal system and how we deal with victims and survivors that it did. Police investigations into the Real IRA, criminal procedings, Police Ombudsman investigations, investigative reporting and even the Gibson Inquiry into the role of British Military intelligence failed to deliver concrete results for the families and survivors in terms of accountability.

Whether this judgement leads to a rash of civil claims no one can predict, but I would suggest that the cost involved, personal strength required and persistence in the face of at best adversity and at worst obstruction would make such a course of action impossible for individual families who have lost loved ones.

More importantly however, the legal system itself needs to be robust enough to deal with these issues. The precedent set in the criminal trial in respect of the Omagh bomb and the passage of time since many events of the conflict have taken place make prosecutions through the criminal courts very difficult and these are likely to be rare.

That doesn't mean that the issue of accountability disappears for victims and survivors. It means we as a community and a Commission face a huge challenge in developing robust processes that deliver acknowledgement of wrongdoing and hold accountable those responsible - in all sections of our society.

The recommendations of the Consultative Group on the Past provide a starting point for dialogue on how we might achieve that end. Let's talk...