British High Court appeal over 'Bloody Sunday' soldiers

A new bid to force former soldiers to give their evidence to the Bloody Sunday inquiry in Derry -where they fear reprisal attacks - began in the British Court of Appeal today.

Last month two High Court judges in London overturned a decision by the inquiry tribunal, headed by Lord Saville of Newdigate, that the witnesses must attend in person at Derry’s Guildhall.

Lord Justice Rose, sitting with Mr Justice Sullivan, said the tribunal had misdirected itself in law as to the legal test to be applied when assessing the threshold of risk to soldier witnesses from terrorist reprisals.

Today Christopher Clarke QC, representing Lord Saville, told three appeal judges headed by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips, that the tribunal was entitled to conclude that the soldiers had no reasonable reason to fear for their safety in the light of the protection being offered by security forces.

The decision was taken by the tribunal following ‘‘anxious scrutiny’’ of the rights and interests of the soldiers, the families of the dead and injured as well as the public interest, he said.

The High Court ruling came in a test case brought by 36 military witnesses who had accused the tribunal of breaching their human rights by ‘‘knowingly exposing individuals to the risk of death’’ despite ‘‘overriding concerns’’ expressed by the British Ministry of Defence that they would be prime targets.

If the appeal fails, the ex-soldiers, who have already won the right to anonymity, are likely to testify in London, with a live video link-up to Derry so that the public can view the proceedings.

Lord Saville had ruled out any question of moving to the UK to hear the evidence because the chances of restoring public confidence would be ‘‘very seriously diminished if not destroyed’’ if the proceedings were held elsewhere.

That stance was supported in the High Court by legal teams representing some of the 32 families who had relatives killed or injured during the civil rights march on Sunday January 30 1972, when 13 people were shot dead by British soldiers.

A total of 16 barristers are involved at the case at the Court of Appeal, representing interests including the families of the victims, the Ministry of Defence and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.