Court to rule on Pinochet report

London - The High Court will rule later today on whether the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, must disclose the full details of…

London - The High Court will rule later today on whether the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, must disclose the full details of Gen Augusto Pinochet's medical report which prompted him to announce he was "minded" to send the former dictator back to Chile on health grounds, Rachel Donnelly reports.

Amid reports that Gen Pinochet's health has deteriorated dramatically in recent weeks, three senior judges will decide on the legality of Mr Straw's decision last year not to disclose the report to interested parties.

Belgium and six human rights groups argued that his decision was flawed, insisting that in "the interests of justice" Mr Straw could have overridden medical confidentiality and published the report.

The groups also insisted that interested parties should have had access to the report in order to offer a "meaningful" response to the Home Secretary's announcement.