Finucane widow urges judges to shun inquiry

From The Guardian:

Clare Dyer, legal editor
Thursday April 14, 2005
The Guardian

Geraldine Finucane, widow of the murdered Northern Ireland human rights solicitor Patrick Finucane, has written to all senior judges in England, Wales and Scotland, asking them to refuse to sit on any inquiry into her husband's death under new legislation.

Lord Saville, who chaired the Bloody Sunday inquiry, has criticised the Inquiries Act 2005, which allows ministers to issue notices stopping certain evidence from being given in public and restricting publication in the public interest.

The act replaces the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 which gives chairmen a free hand.

Lord Saville has told Baroness Ashton, minister in the department of constitutional affairs, in a letter: "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.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,2763,1459063,00.html