A ruling in a test case in the Court of Appeal in Belfast yesterday could have far-reaching consequences for the convictions of alleged terrorists who confessed after being denied access to a solicitor.
The court upheld an appeal by Mr Gerard Magee (36), of Niblock Road, Antrim, and quashed his convictions for conspiracy to murder soldiers in an IRA culvert bombing in 1988.
He was jailed for 20 years and served nearly half his sentence before being released under the Belfast Agreement.
His case was referred back to the appeal court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission following a judgment in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The ECHR held that Mr Magee's admissions at Castlereagh holding centre in Belfast, after he was denied access to a solicitor for two days, were in breach of his right to a fair trial under the European Convention on Human Rights.
In yesterday's reserved judgment, the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Carswell, recalled that Mr Magee had claimed at his trial that his confession was the result of ill-treatment by police but this was rejected.
His appeal was dismissed after judges said they were satisfied he was not ill-treated.
The Lord Chief Justice said the ECHR found that the denial of access to a solicitor, against the background of conditions in Castlereagh, constituted a violation of the convention.
"We consider that we would not be justified in concluding that the conviction was safe in the light of this finding," he said.
Sir Robert added: "If other cases come before us concerning admissions made in Castlereagh by persons whose access to legal advice was deferred, we shall take the ECHR's decision in the present case into account.
"It will then be a matter for consideration in each case how far the court's findings in this case are material in reaching a conclusion on the safety of the conviction."
Afterwards Mr Magee's solicitor, Ms Patricia Coyle of Madden and Finucane, said: "This is an important judgment, not only for Gerard, but for others who have been convicted by Diplock courts, either wholly or substantially on alleged confession evidence extracted under the regimes of Castlereagh and Gough Barracks without access to legal advice.
"The Court of Appeal will now be compelled to reconsider other such cases."