The ruling by the European Court of Human Rights against the British government is one of the most important legal judgments in the Northern Ireland conflict.
By finding that the UK violated the right to life of 12 men killed by the security forces, or as a result of alleged collusion between the security forces and loyalists, the court is insisting that, even in the midst of conflict, the State and its agents must act within the law.
The families of the 12 men have fought a long struggle. Ten of the dead were IRA activists; one was a Sinn Fein member.
Some of the families yesterday criticised the media for their lack of interest over the years. The four cases - Kelly, Shanaghan, McKerr and Jordan v the UK - were lodged separately with the court but were later joined.
A hearing was held in April 2000 and the court has been considering its judgment since. The British government welcomed the fact that the court did not find that the deaths amounted to unlawful killing. But that was always unlikely, according to Mr Martin O'Brien, of the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), which was involved in the case.
"It would have been a very unusual move, because the court focused not so much on the details of the killings but on the State's behaviour afterwards. It found there was a completely inadequate investigation into each of the cases."
The Kelly case concerned eight IRA members and a civilian who were killed by the SAS in Loughgall, Co Tyrone, in 1987. Human rights groups believed a decision was taken to kill, rather than arrest, those involved and that scant regard was paid to civilian safety.
British intelligence knew several days in advance that the IRA's East Tyrone brigade was about to launch an attack on Loughgall RUC station. The station was vacated and at least 24 SAS men lay in wait.
When the IRA unit arrived and began its attack, it was met with heavy machinegun and rifle fire. A total of 678 spent cartridges were recovered at the scene, most fired by the SAS.
At the inquest into the deaths the SAS admitted not giving any warnings before opening fire. It was the IRA's single largest loss of members during the Troubles. Among those killed was the East Tyrone brigade commander, Patrick Kelly (32).
Anthony Hughes, a civilian, was also killed when he and his brother, Frank, were caught up in the shooting as they drove through the village.
Pearse Jordan (22) was an unarmed IRA member shot dead by the RUC in west Belfast in 1992. Witnesses said police rammed the stolen car he was driving and he was shot in the back three times while trying to run away. The Director of Public Prosecutions said there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution of RUC officers.
Gervaise McKerr (31), an IRA member, was killed in 1982, along with Eugene Toman and Sean Burns, when the RUC opened fire on their car. They were unarmed. A total of 109 rounds were fired into the car. Three RUC officers were prosecuted for Toman's murder but were acquitted on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
Sinn Fein member Patrick Shanaghan (31) was killed in 1991 by the UDA when driving to work in Castlederg. His family alleged security force collusion. Mr Shanaghan had been arrested 10 times and his home was raided 16 times in the year before his death.
By taking the rare step of awarding £10,000 to each of the applicants in the four cases, the European Court conveyed the gravity with which it viewed the situation. It uncovered a litany of failures following the deaths.
The CAJ is demanding independent investigations into all four cases. It says the British government must now radically overhaul the North's inquest system and set up independent mechanisms to investigate all State killings or those where collusion is suspected.
The British government is considering appealing the judgment, but the CAJ believes it is unlikely to do so. "This was a unanimous decision by seven judges of the court, including the British judge", Mr O'Brien said. "The British government would be very unwise to appeal."