Bloody Sunday and the Rule of Law in Northern Ireland

DERMOT WALSH was appointed Chair of Law at the University of Limerick in 1996 where he is also Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice. He is a visiting Professor to the University of San Diego's Institute of International and Comparative Law and is a former President of the Irish Association of Law Teachers. He is the author of The Use and Abuse of Emergency Legislation in Northern Ireland (1983) and The Irish Police: A Legal, Constitutional and Administrative Perspective (1998). His report The Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry: A Resounding Defeat for Truth, Justice and the Rule of Law formed a primary component of the Irish government's Report on Bloody Sunday to the British government which, in turn, was instrumental in persuading the British government to establish the Saville Tribunal of Inquiry into Bloody Sunday in 1998.

'This book is a meticulously researched analysis of a seismic event in Northern Ireland's history and a searing indictment of legal and security policies applied in Northern Ireland in the years which followed. Not everyone will agree with the views expressed, but they are cogently and authoritatively presented. In future studies of the legal system of Northern Ireland there will need to be extensive references to Walsh's arguments.' - Professor Brice Dickson, Chief Commissioner in the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

• Preface Bloody Sunday The Road to Bloody Sunday The Widgery Inquiry A Flawed Report Soldiers' Statements The Law Governing the Use of Lethal Force Law and Security Policy since Bloody Sunday The Path to Justice Index