The Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, is to furnish details to a Belfast court later this week of why he ordered loyalist terror chief Johnny Adair back to prison.
Adair was granted leave to apply for a judicial review last Friday challenging Mr Murphy's decision to put him back in jail. His legal team are expected to argue in the High Court that the decision was illegal and based on information that was never disclosed.
During a brief hearing in the Northern Ireland High Court in Belfast today, lawyers for the Secretary of State told the judge Mr Murphy intended to file an affidavit in reply to Adair's bid for freedom.It is expected to detail Adair's continued involvement in paramilitary activity, drugs and extortion.
Mr Justice Kerr said he would sit again on Friday at which time he may set a date for the judicial review application.
Adair was returned to Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim for the second time earlier this month at the height of the feud between rival elements of the Ulster Defence Association which left two men dead.
It is the second time he has been put back behind bars since he was released in 1999 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
He was originally sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for directing terrorism and if his court challenge fails he can be kept in jail until January 2005 without any fresh charges being put to him.
Adair's supporters have asked the Belfast-based Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) to back their fight.
The CAJ said it would study the arguments before deciding whether to endorse the campaign.