A DECISION not to compensate some Northern Ireland victims of child sex abuse is to face a court challenge.
Leave has been granted to apply for judicial review of a test case which could affect hundreds of claims.
Under the present rules abuse victims must claim compensation before they are 21 - otherwise their claims are deemed to be legally "out of time".
The test case to come before the High Court in Belfast has been brought by a woman who was eight months over the age of 21 when she applied for compensation for rape committed in 1987 when she was a schoolgirl.
Her solicitor, Mr Pearse MacDermott, of McCann and McCann, said: "The particular injustice of this case is that the applicant's younger sister, who was also raped, received compensation as her case fell within the time limit because she was two years younger."
The case is being taken against the Secretary of State, Sir Patrick Mayhew, following the government's refusal to authorise ex-gratia payments in "out of time" cases.
The Compensation Agency said the decision was made after the "most careful consideration".
The agency's letter said the Secretary of State was conscious of the fact that to concede such claims "would be taking on an unknowable financial commitment at a time when there is intense competition for limited public funds, with the compensation budget under particular pressure."