A multimillion pound compensation case arising out of the Omagh bombing could be delayed by a legal battle over access to documents in the Republic, it was revealed in the High Court in Belfast yesterday.
Five men being sued for £14 million (€20 million) by victims' relatives are no longer legally represented after lawyers pulled out when legal aid was refused. But Mr Justice Morgan hinted yesterday that they should get free legal advice to oppose an application for discovery of documents produced at trials in Dublin.
At one of the trials in 2003, Michael McKevitt was convicted of running the "Real IRA" which carried out the 1998 atrocity killing 29 people, and was jailed for 20 years.
Barrister Mr Brett Lockhart, appearing for the Omagh families, applied for discovery of the books of evidence and transcripts of trials involving some of the five defendants.
Mr Justice Morgan said there appeared to be a prima facie case for discovery but he was concerned about the defendants' rights to a fair trial. For this reason he was "minded" to invite them to say whether they wished to have legal advice regarding the application for discovery.
He said one solicitor could be appointed to look after the interests of all the defendants, and gave them until February 3rd to indicate if they wished to take up the offer.
If they did, said the judge, it would then be for the Legal Services Commission - formerly the Legal Aid department - to appoint counsel to take instructions. "The appointment of one senior counsel and one junior counsel would limit the extent of any public expenditure," said the judge.
He added that if the defendants did not respond by February 3rd then he would consider asking the Attorney General to become involved to ensure that there was no contempt of court procedures in the Republic.
"The papers indicate that there is a problem about disclosure of this material," said the judge.
"Even though the defendants are not here there is an obligation on this court to ensure they have legal representation if it is required. If it subsequently turned out that they required legal advice then the entire action might be in jeopardy."