The British government was legally entitled to review any commitment by a previous administration to hold a public inquiry into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane, a court has heard.
A high court judge was told by counsel for the government that issues about cost and speed had to be taken into account when a further decision on how to deal with the case was taken following a six-year passage of time.
Mr Finucane was shot dead in front of his wife, Geraldine, and their three children at their north Belfast home in February 1989.
The Catholic lawyer's killing has been surrounded by claims of security force collusion with the loyalist paramilitary killers. Mrs Finucane is seeking to judicially review prime minister David Cameron's decision in 2011 to rule out an inquiry into the shooting carried out by the Ulster Freedom Fighters.
Instead he commissioned QC Desmond de Silva to review all documents relating to the case. In December 2012 his report confirmed agents of the state had been involved in the murder and that it should have been prevented. However, there was “no overarching state conspiracy”.
The Finucane family rejected the findings as a sham. The case continues.