The main oral hearings of the new Bloody Sunday inquiry begin in Derry today, and the exhaustive legal process aimed at establishing the truth about the multiple killings by the British army in the city 28 years ago moves into top gear.
It is a process which, even at this remove, could have a critical bearing on the success of the peace process by contributing to a gradual restoration of nationalist confidence in the rule of law and the integrity of the justice system in Northern Ireland.
The tribunal of inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville, has spent two years on preparatory research work for its investigation into the most serious incident to have involved the modern British army in peacetime within the United Kingdom.
On Sunday, January 30th, 1972, British soldiers fired on unarmed civilians in the Bogside, in the context of a civil rights protest march against internment without trial in the North. Thirteen people were shot dead and at least 14 were wounded, one of whom died later from his injuries.
No soldiers were prosecuted for any of the killings and they were, in effect, exonerated from blame by the report of the first tribunal of inquiry, chaired by Lord Widgery, the then Lord Chief Justice and a former army officer.
In a new analysis published this week, Bloody Sunday and the Rule of law in Northern Ireland, a leading authority on law and security policy in Northern Ireland, Prof Dermot Walsh, of the University of Limerick, comments: "The failure of the law and justice system to punish those responsible and provide redress for those who had been injured and the families of the deceased dealt a shattering blow to nationalist confidence in the rule of law.
"For the nationalist community as a whole it confirmed an established pattern of security force excesses going unpunished; a pattern which has continued from Bloody Sunday right up to the current peace process." The new judicial inquiry was announced by the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, in January 1998, following years of pressure by campaign groups and the compilation of substantial fresh evidence by the families of those killed and by the Irish Government.
Lord Saville's team has accumulated almost 100,000 pages of text, including many previously secret British army and British government memos, policy notes and communications. It has acquired 5,000 photographs relating to Bloody Sunday, 46 videotapes and 23 audiotapes.
Statements have been taken from 729 civilians, more than 600 soldiers and 53 RUC officers, although not all of these will be called to give evidence. The laborious process of identifying and tracking down witnesses continues.
Reports have been commissioned and received from international experts on firearms and explosives residues, on sound analysis, on the pathology and ballistics evidence and on forensic aspects of the injuries.
The tribunal has held several preliminary hearings, mainly on legal and procedural aspects of its operation, and it has issued a number of preliminary rulings and observations. Most controversy has centred on its failure to ensure that the soldiers called as witnesses will be named. The High Court and the Court of Appeal in London overruled the tribunal and accepted the soldiers' case that they should have anonymity because of security fears for themselves and their families.
The Guildhall in Derry has been specially adapted for the hearings. The inquiry will use the latest information technology and has set up its own dedicated website on the Internet, where all rulings and evidential material will be published, with daily transcripts of the proceedings.
To ensure adequate public access to the proceedings, a CCTV link has been set up to the Rialto Theatre in Derry's Market Street, which seats up to 900 people. The inquiry's secretariat has established a base in the city, occupying a complete floor of a large office building. Hundreds of lawyers constituting the legal teams for the various parties will descend on Derry for the the hearings, taking up most of the city's hotel accommodation.
The main hearings are to begin with a detailed opening statement by the tribunal's counsel, Mr Christopher Clarke QC, which is expected to last several weeks and may prompt interventions and submissions by the other legal teams.
The two tribunal members sitting with Lord Saville are Sir Edward Somers, formerly a judge of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, and Mr Justice William Hoyt, up to recently the chief justice of the Province of New Brunswick in Canada.
The hearings are expected to continue, with intermissions, for at least two years and may equal or exceed the duration of the Scarman tribunal, which was set up in 1969 to inquire into the civil disturbances throughout the North in that year. That tribunal delivered its report after 2 1/2 years.
The costs of the new Bloody Sunday tribunal so far, including those for the extensive legal representation granted to the interested parties, are believed to be almost £15 million sterling and will inevitably grow to several multiples of this.
A final assessment - particularly by the Derry community - of its merits and value will be reserved until it delivers its conclusions. In his new book, Prof Walsh writes: "Resolution of the Bloody Sunday issue will not be sufficient in itself to convince nationalists that they will secure justice and equality of treatment and respect in Northern Ireland. Equally the prospect of a political settlement will remain very slim for as long as the injustices of Bloody Sunday are allowed to fester."
Bloody Sunday and the Rule of Law in Northern Ireland published by Gill & Macmillan, Goldenbridge, Dublin 8.
http//www.bloody-sundayinquiry.org.uk