Finucane widow wants judges to boycott inquiry

The widow of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has written to all senior judges in Britain urging them not to sit on an inquiry into her husband’s killing, she revealed today.

Geraldine Finucane wrote personally to every senior judge in England, Scotland and Wales expressing her concerns about the new Inquiries Act.

Despite having been pressing for a public inquiry for years, Mrs Finucane believes the terms of the act could prevent the truth of her husband’s murder in 1989, and allegations of security force collusion with the loyalist paramilitaries responsible, coming out.

Public inquiries into the murders of Mr Finucane and three other people were recommended by retired Canadian High Court Judge Peter Cory in 2002 after he carried out investigations for the British and Irish governments into allegations of collusion.

He said there was strong evidence of collusion which merited public inquiries.

Since the British government enacted the Inquiries Act both Judge Cory and Lord Saville of Newdigate – who conducted the long-running Bloody Sunday Inquiry and is yet to report – have indicated they would not be prepared to sit on any inquiry set up under the act.

In her letters Mrs Finucane said: “In view of these considerations I write to request that, if approached to serve on an Inquiries Act inquiry into my husband’s murder, you, like Lord Saville and Judge Cory refuse to accept such an appointment.”

She said that despite undertakings given by the British government in Parliament to implement the Cory recommendation in full, it had now enacted the Inquiries Act 2005.

“The provisions of that Act clearly fall far short of the Cory recommendations,” she said.

Mrs Finucane quoted Judge Cory saying: “It seems to me that the proposed new Act would make a meaningful inquiry impossible. The Commissioners would be working in an impossible situation.”

Judge Cory added: “For example, the minister, the actions of whose ministry was to be reviewed by the public inquiry would have the authority to thwart the efforts of the inquiry at every step.

“It really creates an intolerable Alice in Wonderland situation.”

Lord Saville was quoted as saying: “I take the view that this provision makes a very serious inroad into the independence of any inquiry; and is likely to damage or destroy public confidence in the inquiry and its findings, especially in any case where the conduct of the authorities may be in question.”

He added: “As a Judge, I must tell you that I would not be prepared to be appointed as a member of an inquiry that was subject to a provision of this kind.”

Mrs Finucane also took a full-page advertisement in The Times to publicise her position.