Legal attempts to secure a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown have been put on hold until the British Government decides whether it will appeal a ruling on a new body investigating Troubles killings.
Lawyers for the victim’s family confirmed Secretary of State Hilary Benn has been given four weeks to indicate his position on findings reached about the status of the Independent Commissions for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.
Last week the Court of Appeal ruled the government has too much power to veto the disclosure of sensitive material to ICRIR.
Senior judges also held that the Commission, set up as part of the previous Conservative administration’s controversial Northern Ireland Legacy Act, cannot ensure effective participation for next of kin.
Mr Benn has yet to say if those findings will be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Mr Brown’s family are pressing ahead with a challenge to the Government’s refusal to order a public inquiry into his killing.
The 61-year-old father of six was shot dead by loyalist terrorists after being abducted as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA Club in Co Derry in May 1997.
No-one has ever been convicted of his murder.
Earlier this year it emerged that state agents were among more than 25 people linked by intelligence to the murder.
At that stage the coroner, Mr Justice Kinney, halted proceedings due to the extent of confidential material excluded or withheld on national security grounds.
He wrote to the previous Conservative Government requesting the establishment of a public inquiry into Mr Brown’s killing.
Earlier this month Mr Benn confirmed that those calls have been rejected.
He instead urged Mr Brown’s family to engage with ICRIR, insisting it is capable of probing the case effectively and providing justice.
Proceedings mounted by the victim’s elderly widow, Bridie, had been adjourned to await the Court of Appeal’s findings in a wider challenge to the Legacy Act, which involved the Commission’s capacity to carry out human rights compliant investigations.
At a further review on Thursday it was indicated that Mrs Brown’s case may have to be reconsidered if the legal position remains as stated by the Court of Appeal.
The family’s solicitor, Niall Murphy of KRW Law, said later that the High Court has now given Mr Benn until October 22 to announce any appeal to the ruling on ICRIR’s status.
Mr Murphy added: “If the Court of Appeal findings stand, then the Secretary of State will have conceded that the decision to refuse a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown is unlawful.”