The British Army on Trial

Abstract 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.