IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 740 

Calling on the Government of the United Kingdom to immediately establish 

a full, independent, public judicial inquiry into the murder of Northern 

Ireland defense attorney Pat Finucane, as recommended by international 

Judge Peter Cory as part of the Weston Park agreement and a way 

forward for the Northern Ireland Peace Process. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2006 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. 

GALLEGLY, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 

PASCRELL, Mr. CROWLEY, Mrs. MCCARTHY, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. 

SWEENEY, Mr. WALSH, Mr. MCNULTY, and Mr. ENGEL) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling on the Government of the United Kingdom to immediately establish a full, independent, public judicial inquiry into the murder of Northern Ireland defense attorney Pat Finucane, as recommended by international 

Judge Peter Cory as part of the Weston Park agreement 

and a way forward for the Northern Ireland Peace Process. 

Whereas human rights defense attorney and solicitor Patrick 

Finucane was brutally murdered in front of his wife and 

children at his home in Belfast on February 12, 1989; 


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Whereas numerous international bodies and non governmental human rights organizations have made note of serious allegations of collusion between loyalist 

paramilitaries and British security forces in the murder 

of Mr. Finucane; 

Whereas in July, 2001, the Irish and British Governments 

made new commitments in the Weston Park Agreement 

to hold public inquiries into high profile murders if so 

recommended by the Honorable Judge Peter Cory, with 

it being clearly understood that such an inquiry would be 

held under the United Kingdom Tribunals of Inquiry 

(Evidence) Act 1921; 

Whereas Judge Cory found sufficient evidence of collusion to 

warrant a public inquiry into the murder of Patrick 

Finucane and recommended that such an inquiry take 

place without delay; 

Whereas in his conclusions, Judge Cory set out the necessity 

and importance of a public inquiry into the Finucane 

case and that the failure to hold a public inquiry as 

quickly as reasonably possible could be seen as a denial 

of the agreement at Weston Park; 

Whereas on May 6, 2004, Judge Cory testified in Congress 

before the United States Helsinki Commission and presented his report which is replete with evidence of possible collusion relating to activities of the army intelligence unit and the RUC in the Finucane case; 

Whereas the United Kingdom adopted new legislation after 

the public release of the Cory Report, the United Kingdom Inquiries Act 2005, which severely limits the procedures of an independent inquiry and which has been reVerDate Aug 31 2005 19:53 Mar 30, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR740.IH HR740

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•HRES 740 IH 

jected as inadequate by Judge Cory, the Finucane family, 

the Irish Government and human rights groups; 

Whereas on March 15, 2005, Judge Cory submitted written 

testimony to the House International Relations committee stating that the new legislation is ‘‘unfortunate to 

say the least’’ and ‘‘would make a meaningful inquiry impossible’’; 

Whereas Judge Cory’s written statement also stated that his 

recommendation for a public inquiry into the Finucane 

case ‘‘contemplated a true public inquiry constituted and 

acting pursuant to the provisions of the 1921 Act ’’ and 

not the new 2005 Inquiries Act; and 

Whereas the House of Representatives and Congress have 

passed legislation supporting the establishment of an 

independent, judicial inquiry into the murder of Patrick 

Finucane and deeply regrets the British Government’s 

failure to honor its commitment to implement Judge 

Cory’s recommendation in full: Now therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commends the Finucane family—wife Geral3 dine and son Michael who have testified before Con4 gress—for their courageous campaign to seek the 

5 truth in this case of collusion; 

6 (2) welcomes the passage of a resolution by the 

7 Dail Eireann on March 8, 2006, calling for the es8 tablishment of a full, independent, public judicial in9 quiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane as the 

10 Irish Government’s most recent expression of sup11 port for the Finucane family; 


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1 (3) acknowledges the United States Helsinki 

2 Commission and the House of Representatives’ 

3 International Relations’ subcommittees charged with 

4 human rights monitoring for their work in high5 lighting this case through hearings and legislation; 

6 (4) supports the efforts of The Honorable 

7 Mitchell Reiss, President Bush’s special envoy for 

8 the Northern Ireland Peace Process, in pushing for 

9 the full implementation of the Weston Park Agree10 ment and the establishment of an independent, judi11 cial inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane; 

12 and 

13 (5) calls on the Government of the United 

14 Kingdom to— 

15 (A) reconsider its position on the Finucane 

16 case to take full account of the family’s objec17 tions, Judge Cory’s objections, objections raised 

18 by officials of the United States Government, 

19 other governments, and international bodies, 

20 and amend the UK Inquiries Act of 2005; and 

21 (B) establish immediately a full, inde22 pendent, public judicial inquiry into the murder 

23 of Pat Finucane, as recommended by Judge 

24 Cory, which would enjoy the full cooperation of 


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1 the family and the wider community throughout 

2 Ireland and abroad. 

Æ 


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