Timeline of Pat Finucane case
May 2002 - Retired Canadian judge Peter Cory appointed to investigate six controversial killings in the North, including that of Pat Finucane, in which security force involvement was alleged.
June 2002 - BBC's Panorama programme provides details of undercover Force Research Unit and alleges an unnamed RUC special branch officer persuaded loyalists to murder Mr Finucane.
April 2003: Stevens third report concludes elements within the RUC and British army colluded with loyalist paramilitaries to murder Catholics in the late 1980s. Finucane family reiterates its call for a full, independent, public inquiry into Mr Finucane's murder. Also, Brian Nelson dies of cancer in Canada. Following his release from prison, he had been living under an assumed identity at a secret location in England.
July 2003 - The European Court of Human Rights rules that the police investigation of the murder of Pat Finucane was a breach of human rights.
October 2003 - Cory Reports handed to British and Irish governments with clear warning that text should not be altered. Delay in publishing reports sees British government accused of trying to "sex down" the findings.
April 2004 - Cory reports published and find "there is strong evidence that collusive acts were committed by the army (Force Research Unit), the RUC Special Branch and the security service." Judge Cory said the army handlers of Brian Nelson and their superiors "turned a blind eye" to his "criminal acts" which "established a pattern of behaviour that could be characterised as collusive". He recommends a public inquiry into Pat Finucane’s death.
September 2004 - Loyalist Ken Barrett receives a life sentence after admitting he had a role in the shooting of Pat Finucane. Then Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy subsequently moves to set up an inquiry into the Finucane case but says special legislation is needed because it would have to deal with sensitive matters of national security.
The Finucane family opposes the Inquiries Act 2005, arguing it would allow government to interfere with the independence of a future inquiry because a government minister could rule whether the inquiry sat in public or private. Plans to establish an inquiry are halted by then Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain.
October 2011 - Geraldine Finucane says she is “angry” and “insulted” after British prime minister David Cameron tells her he was proposing a barrister-led review of her husband’s case. Mr Cameron apologises to the family and acknowledges there was collusion. A limited 18 month inquiry into his death led by Sir Desmond da Silva QC is announced. He is allowed to examine existing documentation but not to examine witnesses under oath.
January 2012 - Finucane family granted a judicial review of the decision by the British government not to hold a public inquiry into his death.
December 2012 - The Da Silva report, which runs to some 500 pages, is published.
