The British Army on Trial

The British government's current approach to holding the British Army accountable for historical crimes during the Northern Ireland Troubles is self-serving and limited. Since the 1998 peace process, successive governments have adopted a narrow, juridical approach, focussed on prosecuting a handful of individual soldiers for the most egregious crimes like unlawful killings. This strategy deliberately avoids scrutinising the collective responsibility of the political system and Army as a whole, as well as the more mundane, everyday violence perpetrated against the nationalist community. This article argues that this is part of a wider process of colonial amnesia around Britain's role in Northern Ireland. The juridical approach constructs a particular narrative of the Army's role in the conflict, rehabilitating their use of violence, while obscuring broader systemic responsibility. It concludes that, while a more transformative approach to historical justice would be preferable, this remains unlikely.