Mr Pat Finucane was a virtual celebrity in Northern Ireland, known for his civil rights work and notorious, some might say, for his defence of IRA accused.
One of his most celebrated achievements was representing Mr Patrick McGeown, who was accused of complicity in the killing of British Army corporals in 1988. The charges were dropped in a welter of media publicity.
He was long considered a thorn in the side of security forces in the North and was regarded by some loyalists as an IRA collaborator.
He was murdered at his home by members of the Ulster Freedom Fighters in February 1989. He was eating Sunday dinner with his family when he sustained 14 gun shot wounds.
There has been extensive media coverage pointing to security force collusion involving the British army, the RUC and British intelligence. Judge Cory found "there is strong evidence that collusive acts were committed by the army (Force Research Unit), the RUC Special Branch and the security service."
Judge Cory said the army handlers of double agent the late Brian Nelson and their superiors "turned a blind eye" to his "criminal acts". This "established a pattern of behaviour that could be characterised as collusive".
The RUC Special Branch was attacked for acting differently in reaction to threats from the Ulster Defence Association than it did to those of the Provisional IRA and other republicans.
Documents "indicate that Special Branch rarely took any steps to document threats or prevent attacks by the UDA, whereas pro-active steps were routinely taken in connection with PIRA and other republican threats", he said.
The failure to issue warnings to persons targeted by the UDA "often led to tragic consequences", Judge Cory said, adding that "this is indicative of attitudes within the RUC Special Branch".
Judge Cory also advised that ongoing legal action by the Finucane family should not delay the setting up of the inquiry. "This may be one of the rare situations where a public inquiry will be of greater benefit to a community than prosecutions."
Additional reporting PA