The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Britain failed to investigate adequately allegations that the security forces colluded in the murder of the Belfast solicitor, Mr Pat Finucane.
The court ordered the British government to pay Mr Finucane's widow, Geraldine, €43,000 and to reimburse her legal costs but the panel of seven judges drew back from calling for a fresh inquiry into the murder.
While the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, called for an independent public inquiry, the British government last night gave no indication of immediate action on foot of the court's findings. A short statement issued by the Northern Ireland Office said: "The government takes European Court decisions very seriously and will want to give careful consideration to this decision."
A British source indicated to The Irish Times that the UK would probably await the report of Judge Peter Cory, who will recommend whether or not a wider inquiry is required, before deciding on the next step. He is due to report in the autumn.
The Finucane family welcomed the Strasbourg ruling. Mr Michael Finucane, the murdered solicitor's son, said "the objective for us remains a public inquiry". He believes the ruling adds weight to that call.
Human rights organisations, the SDLP and Sinn Féin also restated their calls for a full and independent international judicial inquiry.
In their ruling, the judges said: "It could not be assumed in cases such as this that a future investigation could usefully be carried out or provide any redress, either to the victim's family or in terms of providing transparency and accountability to the wider public. The lapse of time and its effect on evidence and the availability of witnesses could inevitably render such an investigation unsatisfactory or inconclusive."
Ms Finucane complained that, contrary to Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, there had been no effective investigation into her husband's death, which had occurred in circumstances giving rise to suspicions of collusion by the security forces with his killers. The judges, from Britain, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg, Moldova and Andorra, found unanimously that "there had been a failure to provide a prompt and effective investigation into the allegations of collusion by security personnel".
Yesterday's ruling, which came nine years after Ms Finucane first lodged her complaint and 14 years after her husband's murder, acknowledged that a murder inquiry was launched immediately after Mr Finucane's death.
"However, it had been conducted by officers who were part of the police force suspected by the applicant of making death threats against her husband. There had therefore been a lack of independence, which raised serious doubts as to the thoroughness or effectiveness with which the possibility of collusion had been pursued. The inquest had not involved any inquiry into the allegations of collusion and the applicant had been refused permission to make a statement about the alleged threats to her husband.
"The inquest had therefore failed to address serious and legitimate concerns and could not be regarded as having constituted an effective investigation," the judges said.
The court was critical of the official inquiries into allegations of collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries and the delay in starting a thorough investigation into Mr Finucane's death. It said: "The Director of Public Prosecutions was not required to give reasons for his decisions not to prosecute and there was no possibility in Northern Ireland to challenge such decisions by way of judicial review. No reasons had been given for the decisions not to prosecute in the present case and no information had been provided to reassure the applicant and the public that the rule of law had been respected."
