§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they can indicate the probable timescale of their consideration of the cases of the Armagh Four, in relation to the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal.
§ The Paymaster General (Lord Belstead)A dossier on this case was presented to my center honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 10th January 1991. It is now being examined in detail and a number of points to which reference is made in the document have been referred to the Royal Ulster Constabulary for advice. Only when this information is available—and I cannot yet give an indication of when this might be—will it be possible for my center honourable friend to decide whether or not he would be justified in referring the case back to the Court of Appeal.