Hundreds of former British soldiers who are to be called as witnesses in the Bloody Sunday inquiry have won their High Court battle to avoid giving their evidence in Derry.
They say they fear reprisal attacks by dissident republicans.
Two judges in London overturned a decision by the inquiry tribunal, headed by Lord Saville of Newdigate, that the witnesses must attend in person at Derry's Guildhall.
The families of the victims of the massacre immediately vowed to appeal the decision.
A spokesman for the families described the ruling in as "yet another example of bad faith and interference by the British judiciary in an international tribunal of inquiry".
The ruling came in a test case brought by 36 military witnesses who had accused the tribunal of breaching their human rights by "knowingly exposing individuals to the risk of death".
They said they were being forced to attend despite "overriding concerns" expressed by the Ministry of Defence that they would be prime targets.
Unless the judgment is overturned on appeal, the ex-soldiers, who have already won the right to anonymity, are likely to testify in London via a live video link-up to Derry.
Lord Saville had ruled out any question of moving to the UK to hear the evidence because the chances of restoring public confidence would be "very seriously diminished if not destroyed" if the proceedings were held elsewhere.
That stance was supported in the High Court by legal teams representing some of the 32 families who had relatives killed or injured during the civil rights march on Sunday, January 30th, 1972, when 13 people were shot dead by British soldiers.
So far the inquiry, which began work in March 2000, has heard around 380 of the 500 potential civilian witnesses.
This phase of the investigation is expected to be over by Christmas and will be followed by political figures and various officials giving evidence. It will then be the turn of between 200 and 400 military witnesses.
The tribunal is expected to report late in 2003 or early 2004.
PA