Peter Madden

The Supreme Court ruled in February 2019 that the state has failed to deliver an Article 2 compliant investigation into the death of Mr Finucane, who was shot and killed by loyalist paramilitaries in collusion with the UK security forces.

Mr Finucane’s widow Geraldine Finucane launched new proceedings in the High Court this morning to “challenge the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s delay – now in excess of 20 months – in reaching a decision on how the British Government will respond to the ruling”, solicitor Peter Madden of Madden & Finucane said.

He added: “Only a full and transparent judicial public inquiry, with the powers to compel production of documents and the examination of witnesses can reveal the true extent of the ‘shocking levels of collusion’, as described by former Prime Minister David Cameron, between the British state and loyalist paramilitaries in Pat’s murder.”

The late Mr Finucane’s son, John Finucane, himself a solicitor and now a Sinn Féin MP, said: “It is now over 20 months since my family’s Supreme Court victory and we are forced to go to court yet again to force a response from the British government.

“The Supreme Court judgment rejected all previous investigations into my father’s murder and demanded a new approach.

“The continued stalling must end and the British government need to fulfil the promise they made many years ago, which is have a full and independent public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane.”