An inquiry into alleged police inaction during a fatal assault on a man in Portadown, Co Armagh, in 1997 will go ahead at the earliest opportunity, the tribunal concerned said yesterday.
The Robert Hamill inquiry team won a House of Lords ruling which could open the way for full hearings into the killing of Mr Hamill, aged 25, by a loyalist mob.
The victim, from Portadown, was beaten to death in the centre of the town while police allegedly watched and failed to intervene.
Twenty retired RUC officers claimed they would be in fear of their lives if identified and have fought a decision by inquiry chairman Sir Edwin Jowitt's team that they appear unscreened.
The Lords said the Hamill tribunal had used the correct test in judging whether officers would be put at increased risk appearing unshielded before the inquiry.
An inquiry spokesman said: "Now that the approach taken by the Robert Hamill inquiry has been approved by the House of Lords it looks forward to commencing the full oral hearings at the earliest opportunity.
"If the subsidiary point is pursued it will be dealt with under the special fast-track regime for Robert Hamill inquiry litigation laid down by the Lord Chief Justice in Northern Ireland who has directed that the necessary steps in litigation be dealt with 'in days and not weeks'."
Lord Carswell and the rest of the law lords sent a separate legal dispute about whether the panel's decision was reasonable back to the High Court in Belfast.
The public inquiry was established to decide whether police committed any wrongful act or omission. RUC members have denied witness claims that four officers in a vehicle saw what happened and failed to act. Hearings have been delayed for almost a year while the legal tussle over identification continues.
Jane Winter, director of lobby group British/Irish Rights Watch, said there could be significant time wasted. "It means yet more delay for the tribunal because it can't start until this issue is decided," she said. "We are going right back to square one, to decide whether the tribunal has been irrational or not."
The independent inquiry was recommended by Canadian ex-judge Peter Cory. It was set up in December 2004 and members were scheduled to begin hearing evidence last September.
Robert's sister, Diane Hamill, said the family were adamant the officers appear unscreened. "They need to stand up and answer questions as who they are. They have done it for years, given evidence in person, and not hid themselves," she said. "People need to answer for their actions and lack of action." - (PA)