The Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid is to make a court challenge to new rates of pay for barristers involved in the Bloody Sunday Inquiry.
Dr Reid was today granted leave in the High Court in Belfast to seek a judicial review of the new rates.
Queens Counsels have been given a rise of £250 (sterling) a day for attending the inquiry in the Guildhall in Derry - taking their daily rate to £1,750. They have also been given a rise from £200 to £250 an hour for preparatory work.
They have also been awarded £125 for every hour they spend travelling to and from the inquiry.
Junior counsel have seen their rates rise from £750 a day to £875, with £125 an hour for preparatory work and £62.50 an hour for travelling.
When the Bloody Sunday inquiry was set up interim rates of pay were set and the new rates were awarded by a senior Costs Judge in London after barristers acting for the families of the 14 people shot dead by paratroopers on January 30th 1972 sought a costs hearing to get a final decision on what their rates should be.
The Northern Ireland Office is footing the bill for Lord Saville and the two judges sitting with him, the legal teams working for the inquiry and the lawyers acting for the families.
The Ministry of Defence is paying for the legal teams representing the soldiers
PA