Ten former RUC officers are employed by the body which the British government set up to look at legacy Troubles cases.
The controversial Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery was set up last year after the introduction of the Legacy Act.
The Court of Appeal later found that a British government veto over sensitive material that can be disclosed by the commission to relatives of the dead is not compatible with human rights laws.
While the British government plans to repeal the act, it intends to retain the ICRIR.
The controversial body’s chief commissioner is former Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, while ex-senior police officer Peter Sheridan heads its investigations.
It has now emerged that in total ten former members of the RUC are currently employed by the commission.
Questions have been asked over their role with the commission by Daniel Holder, of the Committee on the Administration of Justice.
“Whilst previously the ICRIR has declined to clarify specific roles - beyond the ICRIR Commissioner for Investigations, the question is, as is likely, if they are involved in investigations or as intelligence officers?” he said.
“This is not a personal issue regarding any of these former RUC officers, but it relates to the fundamental principle of practical independence in legacy investigations that is a legal requirement of Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights).
“Conflicts of interest can arise if you are involved in investigation engaging the actions of an institution you were part of.”
Article 2 relates to the right to life, while Article 3 prohibits torture, inhuman treatment, and degrading punishment.
Mr Holder said that every legacy investigation “could engage the actions of the RUC and partner state agencies”.
Mr Holder said it was “for this reason legacy investigations under the Police Ombudsman and Operation Kenova have precluded ex-RUC from any involvement”.
However, former RUC officers were allowed to join the now defunct Historical Enquiries Team (HET).
In 2013 a damning HMIC (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary) report into the HET concluded the “independence necessary to satisfy Article 2 can only be guaranteed if former RUC officers are not involved in investigating state involvement cases, and if processes designed to ensure this are, in fact, effective”.
A spokesperson for the ICRIR said: “We are an open and inclusive public body. We recently confirmed through FOI that, at the date of request, 10 former RUC officers and staff were employed by ICRIR out of an overall workforce of 152. These staff members serve various professional duties across the Commission’s corporate and operations functions.
“The Commission has strong administrative mechanisms to address potential conflict of interest and enable it to exercise its functions with practical independence. We have formally written to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee suggesting that such mechanisms should be placed on a statutory footing.”
