Death Bill Legislates A Seven-Year Wait For 'Missing'

New legislation to help the relatives of Troubles 'disappeared' and other missing persons in Northern Ireland has been introduced.

The Presumption of Death Bill was put to the Assembly by the NI Finance Minister, Nigel Dodds and aims at allowing the High Court to declare that a missing person "may be presumed dead", for the issuing of death certificates - but only after seven years.

Nigel Dodds said: "No-one wants to think about how they would cope if one of their family members was missing, presumed dead.

"Quite apart from the sense of grief and loss there are the practical questions which will arise: can the death of the missing person be registered? What happens to the family home? Will insurance policies be paid?

"Unfortunately there has been no easy answer to these questions because existing court procedures do not allow a judge to deal with all the legal issues arising from a presumed death," he said.

He said that the legislation introduced in the Assembly will help the families of missing people answer some of the questions.

The Bill will allow family members and others to apply to the High Court for a declaration that the missing person may be presumed to be dead if he or she is thought to have died or has been missing for more than seven years.

The Court order will lead to the missing person's presumed death being registered and a death certificate being made available to the families.

"I know that for the families of the disappeared and other missing persons that this Bill cannot make up for the loss of a loved one, or the continuing anguish which comes from a body not being recovered for burial or cremation.

I hope, however, that it will help them to address some of their concerns and the problems they may encounter," he said.

(BMcC)