The High Court has rejected an application by the former chairman of Independent News and Media, Leslie Buckley, to have inspectors withdrawn from investigating matters at the company.
Mr Buckley had claimed the appointment of the two inspectors should be revoked on the grounds of alleged objective bias.
He claimed a draft statement circulated by the inspectors contained "grave errors" and showed a pattern of being unfavourable to Mr Buckley's evidence.
However, Mr Justice Garrett Simons rejected his application.
The judge said there was well established case law and rulings from the Supreme Court showing bias could not be inferred from errors made during the decision making process.
The inspectors Senior Counsel, Seán Gillane and UK lawyer Richard Fleck, were appointed by the High Court in September 2018.
They are investigating a number of issues including the off-site interrogation of the data of 19 people, including journalists and barristers in 2014.
