Pat Finucane inquiry bid: government will not seek closed hearing in case

Counsel for the Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis instead indicated an intention to prevent disclosure of some material which could be damaging to the public interest.

The development came in legal action over Mr Lewis’ decision not to hold a public inquiry into state collusion in the killing.

A full hearing is listed for November.

Fiona Doherty QC, acting for Mr Finucane’s widow, said: “We remain concerned and sceptical about the Secretary of State’s failure to abide by dates set by the court, (he) appears to set his own timetable.”

Geraldine Finucane is judicially reviewing Mr Lewis because he had ruled out a public inquiry, alleging that the decision breaches her human rights.

Her husband was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries at their north Belfast home in February 1989.

The Finucane family have campaigned ever since for a public inquiry.

In February 2019 the Supreme Court held that previous probes into the killing failed to meet legal human rights standards.

The murdered solicitor’s widow initially issued proceedings in a bid to force the Government to act on the finding that no proper investigation has been carried out.

Mr Lewis announced last November there would not be a public inquiry – at this point,

An order was then made for the Secretary of State to pay £7,500 damages to Mrs Finucane for the “excessive” delay in reaching this position.

The current challenge centres on the legality of his decision to await the outcome of reviews by the PSNI’s Legacy Investigations Branch and the Police Ombudsman.

Archived documents have been recovered from police facilities at Seapark in Co Antrim as part of preparation for the case - including some material never previously in the public domain.

The court previously heard it may be necessary to seek a Closed Material Procedure (CMP), where the state can present some evidence without disclosure to other parties on grounds of national security.

Those restrictions, deployed under the Justice and Security Act 2013, have been likened by some to secret court hearings.

But an alternative legal application for a Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate to redact some of the evidence is now being sought.

Paul McLaughlin QC, for the Secretary of State, confirmed today: “We are of the view that a CMP is not going to be necessary, and that the hearing can proceed on the basis of PII, which is obviously something of significance.”

Efforts are continuing to trawl through “dense and sensitive” documents, he told the court.

Following the update Mr Justice Scoffield urged all sides to meet deadlines aimed at avoiding any further delay.

Listing a further review in October, he warned: “If we arrive (at that date) and the evidence hasn’t been filed at that stage I will not be at all happy.”

More from the News Letter:

> Click here: South Armagh fiasco: Survey group led by ex-IRA killer Harry Maguire is funded almost totally by taxpayers

> Click here: DUP brother of UDA sectarian murder victim Gavin Brett breaks 20 year silence

> Click here: Data on Catholic PSNI recruits ‘shows why we need a return to 50–50’

> Click here: Omagh inquiry call: ‘True blame must stay on terrorists’

> Click here: Ex-confidential files from 1993 show state feared ‘trip and fall’ compensation would fund IRA

> Click here: Late IRA man Eamonn McCourt ‘killed one of his own comrades by mistake’

> Click here: House price boom: home working and lockdown are helping to heat up NI’s property market

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.