A claim that police failed to investigate threats against Lurgan solicitor Ms Rosemary Nelson before her murder is to be investigated in the High Court in Belfast, a judge decided yesterday.
The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), of which Mrs Nelson was an executive member, was granted leave by Mr Justice Kerr for a judicial review of decisions by Police Ombudsman Mrs Nuala O'Loan and former Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
The CAJ and its director, Mr Martin O'Brien, are seeking an order quashing the decisions by Mrs O'Loan and Sir Ronnie to refuse to disclose relevant documents to them.
Ms Nelson died in a car-bomb explosion near her Lurgan home on March 15th, 1999. A splinter loyalist group, the Red Hand Defenders, claimed responsibility but there have been allegations of security force collusion because of her role as solicitor for the nationalist Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition and other high-profile cases.
An investigation into her murder is being carried out by a team headed by Norfolk Deputy Chief Constable Colin Port.
Court papers claimed the refusal by Mrs O'Loan and Sir Ronnie was incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights.
It was claimed the Ombudsman had failed to give adequate weight to the effect non-disclosure would have on the applicants' ability to make meaningful representations on the progress of the investigation and also the benefit that could flow from them having sight of the documents.
The former Chief Constable was said to have erred in law in deciding that "confidentiality" was sufficient reason for non-disclosure and that his provision of documents to the Ombudsman absolved him of the responsibility to consider the applicants' request for disclosure.
Mr Paul Magean, legal officer of the CAJ, said in an affidavit: "I believe the failure to disclose the documents has put us at a disadvantage in respect of the investigation of our complaint."
Mr Justice Kerr adjourned the hearing until May 24th to give the respondents time to file replying affidavits.