Finucane family wins judicial review

A High Court judge in Belfast has granted an application for a judicial review made by Geraldine Finucane over the delay of the British government in publishing the Cory Report.

Mrs Finucane, the widow of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, is seeking the judicial review in an attempt to force the disclosure of Judge Cory's report into the controversial killing of her husband in 1989.

The review will examine the failure of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Paul Murphy to make public the findings of the retired Canadian judge's report.

The Irish government has already published the details pertinent to the two murders Judge Cory's report examined in their jurisdiction. But details of the four other murder cases, all the subject of allegations of collusion, that were examined by Judge Cory in British jurisdiction have not been published.

Legal representation acting for the British government, while accepting that Mr Murphy had an obligation to publish the report, argued that more time was required to assess the legal and security implications prior to the publishing of the report.

Mr Justice Weatherup, ruling in favour of the application for the judicial review, scheduled a hearing date of March 1.

The Cory Report was handed to the Irish and British governments in October last year.

(SP)