However, almost all victims' groups are strongly opposed to the legislation setting out how it will operate.
Ministers in London argue the bill offers the best prospect for bereaved families to find out facts about what happened to their relatives.Dualtach and Barra's strength of feeling led them to decide to speak in public for the first time about their uncles' deaths.Barra, who is 17, said: "I'm the youngest of the family and I've seen through my entire life how my family has campaigned for justice for Gerard and Rory.
"This wouldn't be acceptable in England, Scotland and Wales, yet here in Northern Ireland it has been foisted upon us."Political parties in Northern Ireland have very different analyses of the conflict but all oppose the bill. "It has provided a blueprint for state forces and illegal armed groups to be let off with very serious crimes," she said.The government has argued the provision for immunity from prosecution will help the ICRIR to gather valuable information for families who presently don't know the truth about killings.
"Of course there were cases where soldiers were wrong, and the full force of the law should be brought down upon them.A number of the bill's opponents claim its primary purpose is to cover up state wrongdoing.Now the legislation is moving out of the political process and is set to land in the courts.Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond Jr was murdered by the UVF in 1997, has already begun a case.