New Disappeared death law move

Searches have been carried out for the Disappeared

Legislation to help relatives of those "disappeared" by the IRA is set to come into force, it has been announced.

The Act will allow the families of the so-called Disappeared, who have never found the bodies of the victims, to settle their affairs.

The move was announced by Finance Minister Sammy Wilson.

He said "for those families, such as those of the Disappeared, I hope that this Act will ease some of the suffering".

The Presumption of Death Bill comes into force on 9 November.

Mr Wilson said that under the Act the families of missing persons will, for the first time, be able to have the presumed death of their family member confirmed by the High Court, and a certificate of presumed death made available to them by the General Register Office.

The minister said: "For those families, such as those of the Disappeared, I hope that this Act will ease some of the suffering that they have endured."

In October, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains said it was investigating the disappearance of another man in the early 1970s.

Peter Wilson was 21 when he went missing from his west Belfast home in 1973 and it is reported he may have been abducted and murdered by the IRA.

A spokesman for the commission confirmed that it had received a report of another case.

The investigation is believed to be in its very early stages.

The inclusion of Mr Wilson on the list of the Disappeared would bring to 14 the number of people abducted and murdered in secret by republicans, all but one of them by the IRA.

That organisation has publicly said it was involved in nine of the killings, but has not admitted its role in the others.