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More than 3,500 people died during the Troubles
The government is to attempt to amend its controversial legacy legislation in the House of Lords.
The bill, which offers a conditional amnesty to those accused of killings during the Troubles, will be debated.
The government has proposed a number of changes, which it said would include a more robust process around immunity from prosecution.
The planned changes have already been rejected by victims groups and all the political parties in Northern Ireland.
At the bill's second reading in the House of Lords, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Minister Lord Caine outlined some of the amendments.
He claimed they would include "a more robust process" around immunity from prosecution and improve the investigative powers of the information body.
What is the legacy bill?
- Legislation that aims to draw a line under the Northern Ireland Troubles by dealing with so-called legacy issues
- The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill runs to almost 100 pages
- It was introduced in May in an attempt to deal with more than 1,000 unsolved killings
- A central element involves immunity from prosecution for those who co-operate with investigations run by a new information recovery body
- Victims' groups and political parties at Stormont are opposed to the bill, arguing it will remove access to justice for victims and their families
- Veterans commissioner Danny Kinahan gave the bill a cautious welcome and it is also supported by the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement
- The bill had its second reading in the Lords on 23 November. The government told peers it would bring forward amendments including "a more robust process" around immunity from prosecution
- Lord Caine of the Northern Ireland Office said the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) would be able to conduct criminal investigations
- The amendments will next be discussed at committee stage on Tuesday
The government said its amendments would:
- Confirm that the ICRIR established by the legislation will be able to conduct criminal investigations where it judges that to be appropriate
- Ensure that individuals who knowingly or recklessly provide false information to the ICRIR can be prosecuted and have their immunity revoked
- Disapply the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 for individuals who choose not to tell the ICRIR what they know and are then convicted of an offence so that they face a full, rather than reduced, sentence - the act states that anyone convicted of a Troubles offence after 1973 and before the Good Friday Agreement is eligible for early release after two years in prison
- Increase the fine for non-compliance with the Commission
- Strengthen the ICRIR's independence by making clear that the Northern Ireland secretary should consult individuals before appointing the chief commissioner
'Genuinely worried'
At the start of this year the Victims' commissioner Ian Jeffers called for the government to shelve its legacy plan.
"We would love to see the bill withdrawn - it is as simple as that," he said.
"I am genuinely worried we are going to see the bill pushed through by government for its own means and not really for reconciliation in Northern Ireland."
It is a bill which the government says will draw a line under the conflict by dealing with legacy issues through an information recovery process.
But opponents say the promise to offer immunity from prosecution to those who co-operate robs victims and their families of access to justice.
Later on Tuesday the government will seek to toughen the bill when it comes to those availing of an amnesty but stops short of removing it which is why the changes have been widely rejected.
The government will face a battle to get the amended bill through the House of Lords but it has the numbers in the House of Commons to ensure it passes.
Though it is likely to face a challenge in the courts.
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