Procedure adopted at other major inquests on multiple-fatality incidents in Britain in recent years is to be examined by the coroner for Greater Belfast, Mr John Leckey, as he considers legal submissions concerning the scope of the inquest into the Omagh bombing.
Mr Leckey, who has been appointed coroner for the District of Fermanagh and Omagh for the purpose of holding the bombing inquests, is being asked to rule on the extent of cross-examination of police witnesses, and in particular on whether what happened in the communications room of Omagh RUC station on the day of the bombing is relevant to the hearing.
On the fifth day of the hearing in Omagh yesterday, Mr Michael Mansfield QC, representing the family of the late Elizabeth Rush, said that issues he wished to pursue would revolve around the communications room and the officers on duty there.
He suggested that the "how" question in relation to the purpose of an inquest into how a person met their death was not limited to the immediate cause of death. There could be an elaboration that there were contributory factors.
The object in seeking to establish these was not that individual officers should be maligned or criticised, but rather that practice could be improved and the risk of future tragedies of a similar kind could be reduced.
The coroner said he would wish to establish what procedure had been adopted at certain other major inquests in Britain, such as the Manchester Airport disaster, the Bradford City fire and the Zeebrugge ferry disaster.
Mr Stephen Ritchie BL, for the chief constable, said his objection to a certain line of cross-examination of officers was that the perception and the reality would be that these men would be accused "and will, in effect, be put on trial".
He said he was not suggesting that decisions made should not be open to question. But the right place to make, what in effect would be allegations, would not be at these proceedings.
He said it was easy for barristers to ask: "If you reflect on that for a moment, would you now do it any differently?"
The correct way of raising any allegations would be either to make a complaint to the DPP or to the Independent Commission on Police Complaints, or to initiate a civil action.