A Bill to repeal the Offences Against the State Acts will today be published in the name of the five Sinn Féin TDs. They are publishing the Bill as the amended Act comes up for its annual renewal.
According to the explanatory memorandum published with it, they are doing so as "an act of completion" under the Belfast Agreement. Under the Agreement, emergency legislation was to be reviewed.
Accordingly, the Government set up a committee to review the Offences Against the State Acts, under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Hederman.
It reported in August 2002. Launching the report, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said then he would bring proposals to Government for reform of the legislation "in due course".
The report, which runs to 400 pages, included dissenting views from three members of the committee, Mr Justice Hederman, Professor William Binchy and Professor Dermot Walsh, who sought the repeal of significant parts of the legislation. The majority recommended that much of it be retained intact.