The High Court in Belfast has granted leave for judicial review of the British government’s decision not to conduct an inquiry into the Omagh bombings. The case is being taken by the father of one of the victims of the bombing, who claims that previous reviews do not fulfil the government’s obligation to investigate possible failings of the police and security agents. The case will be heard in April.
The judicial review proceedings were initiated by Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the 1998 bombing, which killed 29 and injured hundreds. Mr Gallagher is claiming that there is evidence which suggests that combined intelligence of British security agents, MI5 and RUC officers could have prevented the attack, and in light of this evidence there is an obligation on the Government to launch a public inquiry. Mr Gallagher argues that there is a breach of Article 2, of the European Convention on Human Rights which protects the right to life and imposes an obligation on States to investigate deaths that may have occurred in breach of the Convention. (see: McCann v UK [1995])
In September 2013, following consultations, Secretary of State Theresa Villiers refused a public inquiry into the bombing as there were insufficient grounds to justify a state-commissioned independent probe beyond the reviews that had already taken place. The Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman was already examining the issue and Ms Villiers found this to be a suitable way to address any outstanding issues.
Michael Maguire, the Police Ombudsman published his report in October 2014. He found that RUC special branch had withheld important intelligence information from detectives hunting the bombers; however he also insisted that the attack could not have been prevented.
The Belfast High Court ruled last week that Mr Gallagher had presented an arguable case that the authorities are in breach of an investigative obligation. The full hearing is expected to be held this April.
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