The International Court of Justice in the Hague yesterday appeared to override the UN Security Council by ruling that the court could decide whether two Libyan suspects in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing should stand trial at home or abroad.
The decision has provoked deeply opposed reactions from families of the 270 people who died when Pan Am Flight 103 blew apart over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on December 21st, 1988. It also drew conflicting interpretations from Libya, which claimed a victory, and from Britain and the US, which attempted to play down its significance.
The court ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear a suit claiming that Libya had international law on its side in refusing to extradite two of its nationals to Britain or the US. The decision in effect overruled the Security Council which had imposed sanctions on Libya to force it to comply with a ruling that the suspects be handed over to US or British officials.
"This is a great day for international justice," said Dr Jim Swire, a spokesman for the Flight 103 Association whose 23-year-old daughter died in the crash. But one group of families of victims of PanAm Flight 103 said yesterday it was "appalled" by the decision.
Libya's ambassador to the Benelux countries hailed the ruling, saying it would "have consequences not only on the Libyan problem but also on all the problems the world is currently seeing."
The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, said: "This is neither a victory nor a defeat. The court has decided that it wishes to consider these complex issues in more detail at a full hearing. Meanwhile, the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council stand: Libya must surrender those accused of the Lockerbie bombing for trial in Scotland or the United States."
"The matter continues and, of course the Security Council's resolutions stand," Britain's UN ambassador, Sir John Weston, said before a Security Council meeting.
Labour MP Mr Tam Dalyell also hailed the ruling.
Washington and London have demanded that suspects Mr Abdel Baset Ali Mohammed el-Megrahi and Mr Al Amine Khalifa Fhimah be extradited to face trial in the US or in Scotland.
But Libya argued that they would not get a fair trial in either country and invoked the Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation to support its contention that it had the right to try them itself.
As a compromise, Libya suggested that the suspects be tried by Scottish judges and under Scottish law in a neutral country - a proposal rejected by the British and US governments.
Dr Swire said the decision was of "enormous importance to international justice simply because the findings of the court on this issue may in future limit the freedom of the Security Council to feel that they can ride roughshod over all pre-existing treaties.
The "bullying, arrogant and inappropriate" attitude of the US and Britain had prevented justice being done earlier, he complained.
Ms Susan Cohen, spokeswoman of Justice for PanAm 103, whose daughter also died in the outrage, had a very different response. "I am appalled, I am absolutely appalled and I am extremely upset because it is often reported that the families want this international trial somewhere and they do not," she said. "The vast majority of American families here do not want an international trial."
Representatives of two other US-based groups, known as Victims of PanAm 103 and Families of PanAm 103, were not immediately available for comment.