Police officers and soldiers involved in fatal shootings in Northern Ireland are soon to lose the right not to have to give evidence at inquests, it emerged in the High Court in Belfast yesterday.
Members of the security forces are currently exempt from being compelled to attend inquests, particularly controversial ones such as the shooting of IRA man Pearse Jordan and the Loughgall killings.
But the law is to be changed following last year's European Court judgment when the British government was ordered to pay £10,000 to the families of 12 IRA men, including Mr Jordan, who was unarmed when he was shot by an RUC sergeant in west Belfast in 1992.
The proposed change in the law was revealed in a reserved judgment in an application for judicial review brought by Mr Hugh Jordan, father of Pearse Jordan, whose inquest has been adjourned several times.
Mr Justice Kerr said that during the hearing earlier this month he had been told by counsel for the Lord Chancellor that the change is expected to take place shortly after a meeting in mid-February.
Lawyers for Mr Jordan had challenged the alleged failure of the Lord Chancellor to introduce legislation to change the inquest system. The change would bring it into line with the European Convention on Human Rights, enabling juries to bring in a verdict of unlawful killing.
Dismissing the application, Mr Justice Kerr said that giving a jury the right to return a verdict of unlawful killing did not fill the gap between an inquest investigation into the lawfulness of force used to cause death and the DPP's role in relation to prosecution of offenders.
He said the gap was filled by ensuring the DPP was required to consider the possibility of a prosecution of criminal offences identified during the inquest, and to explain the reasons for a decision not to prosecute.
The DPP has already directed there be no prosecution against the RUC officer, known as Sergeant A, who fired the fatal shots. The change in the law, which would force Sergeant A to give evidence, is expected before the Jordan inquest resumes.
Mr Justice Kerr said in view of his conclusion that the Coroner should investigate the lawfulness of force used to cause death, he would be sending him a copy of his judgment in the hope it might be of assistance in any future hearing.
Sinn Féin's chief whip, Mr Alex Maskey, welcomed the announcement, saying he was pleased that the families' campaign to get justice had finally forced a change in the law.
"This sort of obstruction has long since been a tactic adopted by both the RUC and the British army. They have continually failed to appear at inquests and intentionally disrupted their operation
"The days of those members of the RUC, the British army or indeed the PSNI, involved in the murder of citizens being allowed to hide behind this exemption law and disrupt the search for truth should now be coming to an end."
The group campaigning for Mr Jordan's family last night insisted the change in legislation did not satisfy their demands.
A spokesman for Relatives for Justice, Mr Mark Thompson, said: "Changes must include juries being able to deliver full verdicts, the independent and impartial examination of all evidence and statements including forensic, ballistic and pathology evidence by expert witnesses.