The widow of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane has secured leave to seek a judicial review of the British government’s refusal to publish the Cory Report into his murder.
A lawyer for Geraldine Finucane told the High Court in Belfast that the failure to publish the report had undermined public confidence in the rule of law and had compounded the distress of the Finucane family.
He also said the delay in publishing the report could lead to vital evidence being lost.
The British government claimed human rights considerations prevented publication of the report, but the presiding judge ruled that the authorities had a case to answer.
Mr Finucane was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries at his home in north Belfast in February 1989.
A report compiled by Metropolitan police commissioner John Stevens has already concluded that members of the British security services colluded with those who carried out the attack.
Retired Canadian judge Peter Cory was appointed to investigate the murder and to decide whether a public inquiry was warranted.
Earlier this month, it emerged that he had gone over the head of the British government and told the Finucane family that his report recommended just such an inquiry.