This House of Lords Library briefing provides background information in advance of the second reading of the Asset Freezing (Compensation) Bill in the House of Lords on Friday 10 June 2016.
Asset Freezing (Compensation) Bill [HL]: Briefing for Lords Stages (133 KB , PDF)
The Asset Freezing (Compensation) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist). The Bill received its first reading in the House of Lords on 23 May 2016, and is scheduled to receive its second reading on 10 June 2016. The Bill seeks to make provisions enabling the Government to use frozen assets that are owned by persons involved in supplying terrorist organisations in the UK to compensate UK citizens who are victims of those organisations.
For a number of years, the victims of IRA attacks carried out using materials supplied by the former Gaddafi regime have been seeking compensation. The House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee is currently investigating the role of the UK Government in seeking compensation for the victims of such attacks. In addition, a Westminster Hall debate held on 23 February 2016 considered the issue of whether Gaddafi’s frozen assets could be used to compensate the victims of the IRA Canary Wharf bombing in 1996.
Asset Freezing (Compensation) Bill [HL]: Briefing for Lords Stages (133 KB , PDF)
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and Victory over Japan Day, events which in 1945 brought an end to the second world war. On those days 80 years ago, celebrations erupted across Britain. However, world leaders and domestic politicians were aware of the numerous problems still to be tackled, such as reconstruction, demobilisation and the legacy of the development and use of the atomic bomb.
Between the 1970s and 1990s, the Gaddafi-led Libyan regime supplied the Provisional IRA with weapons, finance and military training. This included shipments of the explosive Semtex, which was used in several bombings where a number of people died and many more were injured. Campaigners have called on the UK government to use Libyan assets frozen in 2011 to compensate victims. However, successive governments, including the current Labour government, have declined to do so, arguing it would break international law.
On 8 May 2025, the country will mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the end of the second world war in Europe. Many of the commemorations will take place in cemeteries where those who died during the conflict are remembered. This briefing focuses on the organisation behind these cemeteries, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It looks at how the commission developed and recent work on one of its key principles: equality in death.
