A High Court judge in Belfast has asked the British Attorney General to investigate the British government's appointment of interim victims' commissioner Bertha McDougall.
Mr Justice Girvan has asked Lord Goldsmith to examine if the Northern Ireland Office deliberately misled the court during a judicial review of the appointment of Interim Commissioner for Victims and Survivors of the Troubles.
The judge has tabled 67 questions for Lord Goldsmith to consider.
They include querying who supplied the information which was compiled in the letter from the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister, and who had decided Mrs McDougall was the best candidate for the post.
Earlier this month, the judge said the appointment had been motivated by an 'improper political purpose'.
Mr Justice Girvan said there should be an immediate inquiry into the appointment, which he said was a confidence-building gesture to the DUP.
The judge ruled that Northern Secretary Peter Hain failed to take account of the fact that there was no evidential basis for concluding that Mrs McDougall, the widow of a police reservist murdered by the INLA, would command cross-community support.
He also criticised civil servants who had been advising Mr Hain in connection with the appointment.
He said they 'provided partial, misleading and incorrect information as to the manner of the appointment'.
In this morning's judgement, Mr Justice Girvan ruled that if the inquiry was to be fair and meaningful it could not be conducted by those directly involved in handling the case.
The judicial review was taken by Brenda Downes, whose husband Sean was killed by an RUC plastic bullet in 1984.
