The Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) was an organisation founded on 7 January 2004, by an

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting o ...

between the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

governments, signed in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

on 25 November 2003. The IMC concluded its operations on 31 March 2011.

Remit

The IMC's remit included: * monitoring any continuing activity by paramilitary groups. * monitoring the commitment by the British Government to a package of security normalisation measures. * handling claims by parties in the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

that a Minister, or another party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, is not committed to non-violence and exclusively peaceful and democratic means, or that a Minister has failed to observe any other terms of the pledge of office, or that a party is not committed to such of its members as are or might become Ministers observing the other terms of the pledge of office. The IMC submits formal reports to both the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

and

Irish Government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

. The body has faced criticism from

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

due to the manner in which it was set up as an apparent sop to Unionists. In a debate in

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( , ; ) is the lower house, and principal chamber, of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature), which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann (the upper house).Article 15.1.2º of the Constitution of Ireland read ...

Aengus Ó Snodaigh Aengus Ó Snodaigh (; born 31 July 1964) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, author and historian who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency since the 2002 general election. Early and personal life A Dubliner ...

referred to it as "three spooks and a lord".

have issued legal proceedings against the IMC, through their solicitors in London, Howe & Co, alleging that the IMC Commissioners are "apparently biased" and challenging the IMC's application (or non-application) of a standard of proof in its assessments and reports presented to the two Governments. Since its founding the IMC has issued 22 reports, including 3 ad hoc reports. Two ad hoc reports were issued on the initiative of the IMC, while one (the 19th) was requested by both state governments.

Commissioners

Four commissioners were involved: * Lord Alderdice, former Alliance Party leader; former Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, and current peer in the British

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. * Joe Brosnan, former Secretary General of the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

, Republic of Ireland. * John Grieve, former Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

and former head of the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terror Branch. * Dick Kerr, former Deputy Director,

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

Chronology and list of reports

* 7 January 2004: Inauguration of the IMC * 15 January 2004: Joint Declaration by the British and Irish governments * 4 February 2004: Agreement between the British and Irish governments establishing the IMC. * 9 March 2004: Statement by the IMC to clarify its role. * 20 April 2004: First Report: reported 3 months early, at the request of the British and Irish governments * 20 July 2004: Second Report * 4 November 2004: Third Report * 22 November 2004: First report by the Secretary of State under Section 11(1) of the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Act 2003 * 10 February 2005: Fourth Report: a special report on the robbery at the headquarters of the Northern Bank, Belfast, on 20 December 2004 * 24 May 2005: Fifth Report * 22 September 2005: Sixth Report: a special report on the "violent feud between the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Loyalist Volunteer Force" * 19 October 2005: Seventh Report * 1 February 2006: Eighth Report: a special report made at the request of the British and Irish governments * 8 March 2006: Ninth Report: the first report under Article 5(1) obliging the IMC to "monitor whether, in the light of its own assessment of the paramilitary threat and of the British Government's obligation to ensure community safety and security, the commitments the British Government made in the programme are being fulfilled to the agreed timescale" * 26 April 2006: Tenth Report * 6 September 2006: Eleventh Report: the second report under Article 5(1), covering the period from 1 February to 31 July 2006 * 4 October 2006: Twelfth Report * 7 December 2006: Second report by the Secretary of State under Section 11(1) of the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Act 2003 * 30 January 2007: Thirteenth Report: an additional report made at the request of the British and Irish governments following the

St Andrews Agreement The St Andrews Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Chill Rímhinn; Ulster Scots: ''St Andra's 'Greement'', ''St Andrew's Greeance'' or ''St Andrae's Greeance'') is an agreement between the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland's political ...

* 12 March 2007: Fourteenth Report: the third report under Article 5(1), covering the period from 1 August 2006 to 31 January 2007 * 25 April 2007: Fifteenth Report * 17 September 2007: Sixteenth Report: the fourth and final report under Article 5(1), covering the period from 1 February to 31 July 2007 * 7 November 2007: Seventeenth Report * 5 March 2008: Third report by the Secretary of State under Section 11(1) of the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Act 2003 * 1 May 2008: Eighteenth Report * 3 September 2008: Nineteenth Report: an ad hoc report giving a further assessment of the PIRA leadership structure * 7 October 2008: Fourth report by the Secretary of State under Section 11(1) of the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Act 2003 * 10 November 2008: Twentieth Report * 7 May 2009: Twenty-first Report * 4 November 2009: Twenty-second Report * 26 May 2010: Twenty-third Report * 15 September 2010: Twenty-fourth Report: a special report regarding the murder of

Bobby Moffett Robert "Bobby" Thomas Moffett (born June 1, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA) who competes in the Featherweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL). A professional since 2013, he has also competed for the Ultimate Fig ...

* 5 November 2010: Fifth report by the Secretary of State under Section 11(1) of the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Act 2003 * 2 March 2011: Twenty-fifth Report: the IMC's final report * 16 March 2011: Sixth report by the Secretary of State under Section 11(1) of the Northern Ireland (Monitoring Commission etc.) Act 2003

2015

In 2015 the UK and Irish governments gave consideration to reviving the commission after alleged breaches of ceasefires. Since the IMC finished its work, some weapons recovered by the police had been linked to paramilitaries.

References

External links