Independent Commission For The Location of Victims' Remains - Powers and Functions

Powers and Functions

Its functions include receiving information as to the whereabouts of the remains of a victim of violence and disclosing such information for the purpose of facilitating the location of the remains to which the information relates.

• The remit and powers of the Commission are defined by the Northern Ireland (Location of Victims' Remains) Act 1999 which came into force on 26 May 1999 and the Republic of Ireland has passed similar legislation: the Criminal Justice (Location of Victims' Remains) Act, 1999.
• A "victim of violence" is defined as a person killed before the 10 April 1998, (the date of the Belfast Agreement) as a result of an unlawful act of violence committed on behalf of, or in connection with, a proscribed organisation. These organisations are those proscribed by the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996.
• Any evidence obtained (directly or indirectly) by the Commission is inadmissible in evidence in any criminal proceedings.
• Any remains discovered by the work of the commission are not allowed to undergo forensic testing apart the purposes of an inquest to establish the identity of a deceased person or how, when, and where they died.
• All information provided to the commission will remain secret with only the family being informed that information has been received and the place where, according to the information, the victim's remains may be found.
• The commission has the power of entry enforcable by warrant to search anywhere in Northern Ireland.