Lawyers call for judicial inquiry into Finucane's murder

Lawyers on both sides of the Irish Sea this week renewed their calls for an independent public judicial inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane.A joint statement issued by the law societies and bar councils of both England and Wales, and Northern Ireland, on the 13th anniversary of the Catholic solicitor's murder, said it was vital the government acts.'Previous and on-going investigations into Patrick Finucane's murder have failed to provide answers to the evidence which has emerged over the last 13 years,' they said.The inquiry should consider whether there was any state collusion in Mr Finucane's death, they added.

Last year, Northern Ireland secretary John Reid said an international judge would be appointed to decide whether an inquiry was necessary.