Sean Brown: appeal against public inquiry into murder of GAA official fast-tracked for hearing

The UK Government is challenging the judicial direction issued last month after it was found to remain in breach of a human rights duty to probe the full extent of state collusion in the May 1997 killing.

Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan confirmed that the Court of Appeal will hear the case on January 16.

She said: “This case has been before the courts now for a long period of time. I will provide expedition.”

Mr Brown, 61, was abducted by a Loyalist Volunteer Force gang as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA Club in Co Derry.

The father of six was bundled into the boot of his car, taken to Randalstown and shot dead. No-one has ever been convicted of his murder.

It emerged last year at an inquest that state agents were among more than 25 people linked by intelligence to the killing.

At that stage the coroner halted proceedings due to the extent of confidential material excluded or withheld on national security grounds. He wrote to the previous Conservative Government requesting the establishment of a public inquiry.

In September Secretary of State Hilary 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 already 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.

Mr Brown’s 87-year-old widow, Bridie, mounted a successful High Court challenge against the decision not to set up a public inquiry into her husband’s death.

In December, Mr Justice Humpreys compelled the Secretary of State to take the step after identifying a “clear and unambiguous obligation” to establish such a statutory probe.

He held there was no viable alternative to a public inquiry required to satisfy the state’s investigative duty under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Government lodged an appeal on the grounds that the ruling raises wider issues of constitutional significance beyond the case.

Dame Siobhan was told today that all legal arguments could be dealt with in one day.

As some relatives of the murdered GAA official attended a review hearing, their barrister Desmond Fahy KC said: “This is the 56th occasion that the Brown family have been in various courts in relation to this. On their behalf, I welcome this expedition.”