A Belfast judge's ruling that the "Real IRA" was not an illegal organisation was overturned by a higher court today.
In a decision handed down at the Court of Appeal in Belfast, a panel of three senior judges headed by Lord Chief Justice Brian Kerr said the "Real IRA" was a banned group, even though it was not specifically mentioned in anti-terrorism legislation.
"In our judgment it is inconceivable that the legislature did not intend that the 'Real IRA' should be proscribed..," the judges recorded.
In an embarrassing ruling for the authorities, Belfast judge Paul Girvan cleared four men of charges of "Real IRA" membership last month after deciding the group was not specifically proscribed.
Judge Girvan said the "Real IRA" could not be considered banned because it was not listed in the UK's Terrorism Act 2000.
The British government appealed the ruling, and at a hearing last week London's top legal adviser, Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, insisted the "Real IRA" was covered because the "Irish Republican Army" was named.
Today's judgment accepted Lord Goldsmith's argument that the law used "Irish Republican Army" as a generic term which took in both the mainstream group and its dissident offshoots.
"Given the manner in which the various groupings of the IRA have been proscribed historically, we consider that it should have been apparent to any member of the 'Real IRA' that he was guilty of an offence," the judges said.
The four men at the centre of the original case were freed yesterday after being cleared of additional charges of plotting to kill police and troops and possessing a rocket launcher.
They are unaffected by today's ruling because the appeal was brought on the point of law rather than their acquittals.