An independent public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown must be established without further delay, the Court of Appeal in Belfast has ruled.
Senior judges upheld a previous determination that Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn had unlawfully failed to set up a statutory investigation and gave him four weeks to confirm a process for complying with their ruling.
Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan stressed how the UK government has remained in continuous breach of a human rights obligation to effectively probe the full extent of state collusion in the May 1997 murder.
She stated: "This is a shocking state of affairs in that a quarter of a century has passed since Sean Brown was murdered and yet there has been no lawful inquiry into the circumstances of his death."
Mr Brown, a 61-year-old father of six, was abducted by a Loyalist Volunteer Force gang as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA Club in Co Derry.
He was bundled into the boot of his car, taken to Randalstown, Co Antrim, and shot dead.
No-one has been convicted of his murder.
Outside the court in Belfast, his widow, Bridie, said: "Mr Benn, five judges have told you what to do.
"Do the right thing and please don't have me going to London."
It emerged last year at an inquest that state agents were among more than 25 people linked by intelligence to Mr Brown's killing.
At that stage the coroner halted proceedings due to the extent of confidential material excluded or withheld on national security grounds and wrote to the previous Conservative Party government requesting the establishment of a public inquiry.
In September, Mr Benn confirmed that those calls had been rejected.
He instead recommended that the bereaved family should engage with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), a new body set up under the controversial Northern Ireland Troubles Legacy Act.
The Court of Appeal has previously ruled that parts of the legislation breaches human rights law, with the government having too much power to prohibit the commission from sharing sensitive information and uncertainty about effective participation for next of kin.
Even though the government has pledged to repeal the act, it intends to retain the ICRIR and is seeking to appeal the findings made against it at the Supreme Court.
Mr Brown's 87-year-old widow, Bridie, mounted a successful judicial review challenge against the decision not to set up a public inquiry into her husband’s death.
In December, a High Court judge ordered Mr Benn to establish a public inquiry after finding the government remains in breach of its duty.
Mr Justice Humpreys identified a "clear and unambiguous obligation" to establish such a statutory inquiry in order to satisfy the state's investigative duty under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Lawyers for the government appealed his ruling on the grounds that it was legally and constitutionally wrong to make a mandatory order while there is still legal uncertainty over the status of the Legacy Act and the ICRIR.
They further contended that the financial bill for a commission-led process would be just a fraction of any public inquiry while achieving the same outcome.
Counsel representing Mrs Brown responded that the decision to compel the secretary of state to set up a public inquiry in a bid to finally uncover the full truth about state involvement in her husband's murder was unimpeachable.
The GAA official’s killing was described as "an indelible stain on the body politic of this state".
Appeal judges were told his elderly widow has attended court nearly 60 times in her legal battle to ensure the UK government finally complies with its obligation to effectively investigate his death.
Ruling on the case, Chief Justice Keegan said the commission has insufficient powers and is not equipped to deal with sensitive material.
"Mrs Brown is 87 years old. She has been pursuing her remedy for 28 of those years," the judge pointed out.
"So, in this case, the ICRIR is not fit for the purpose of delivering the remedy she needs now."
With a statutory investigation under the 2005 Inquiries Act identified as the only resolution currently available on the statute book, she said there is nothing to prevent it from incorporating all material already collected via the inquest process.
Rejecting further submissions about costs and administrative burdens as "mere assumptions", the Court of Appeal found that it was a flawed basis to deny Mrs Brown access to the available remedy.
The decision of the secretary of state to refuse the Brown family a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown therefore cannot stand," Justice Keegan stated.
Mr Benn has failed to give proper weight to the current inadequacy of the ICRIR to carry out a human rights compliant investigation, according to the court’s findings.
Questions were also raised about the independence of advice about the interests of the Ministry of Defence and MI5 officials in the ultimate decision taken.
Citing unique circumstances in the case, the chief justice disagreed with assertions that a public inquiry would open the floodgates to an influx of similar requests.
"The only lawful option available to the secretary of state to remedy the egregious delay in providing the Brown family with an Article 2 compliant investigation was to order a public inquiry," she held.
Justice Keegan declared: "An independent public investigation, dealing with the coroner’s concerns, capable of dealing with sensitive material, with the Brown family legally represented, provided with the relevant material and able to examine the principal witnesses, must be held without further delay in order to satisfy the obligations imposed by Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights which all parties agree the UK government is in breach of."
But holding off from imposing any mandatory order at this point, the court adjourned proceedings for four weeks in a "staged approach" to achieving a final remedy.
The judge said this would give the government time to consider the judgment.
But she also stressed: "There cannot be any further delay, we trust that the secretary of state will confirm the mechanism which he proposes to comply with the declaratory order within the time provided for."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
UK government considering court decision
The government said that it "will carefully consider" the ruling.
"We have enormous sympathy for Mrs Brown and her family who have suffered so much," a spokesperson said.
"The secretary of state has been clear that he wants to see a full investigation into the murder of Sean Brown.
"We acknowledge today's judgment and will carefully consider it.
"This will not delay the government's determination to repeal and replace the Legacy Act and to implement mechanisms that are human-rights compliant and can command confidence across communities."
Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O’Neill urged the government to "end its blockade" and allow the Brown family "access to truth and justice".
"I want to again commend Bridie and the family for their courage and their tenacity, for their steadfastness in terms of getting access to truth and justice" Ms O'Neill said.
"But the British government needs to get on with the public inquiry, end its blockade and allow access to truth and justice."
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs said the judgement "will be welcome news to the Brown family" who "have campaigned tirelessly for more than 27 years to find the truth of what happened to their husband and father".
In a statement, Simon Harris said: I won't comment directly on the judgment but the case does underline the need to achieve legacy processes that command the confidence of victims and survivors and are human rights compliant."
