A group of elderly loyalists who claim they were wrongly interned at the height of the Troubles to “even up the score” will finally have their legal actions heard later this year.
Nineteen Protestant men sued the UK state for allegedly imprisoning them without trial in order to balance the number of Catholics detained under the policy.
Five of the cohort have died since the writs were first issued at the High Court in Belfast more than a decade ago.
But in a boost for surviving members of the group, a judge has confirmed the first of the civil claims is to be heard in December.
Solicitor Gary Duffy of KRW Law, who represents most of the veteran loyalists, said: “After a protracted legal journey this important lead case on the lawfulness of internment is at long last listed for hearing.”
Detention without trial was introduced in 1971 as violence raged in Northern Ireland.
Nearly 2,000 people, most of them Catholic, were locked up over the next four years.
Actions have been brought against the Northern Ireland Office, PSNI, Ministry of Defence and secretary of state by men from the so-called loyalist side of the community.
They allege the British Government abused its power by jailing them because of their religion, and to demonstrate internment was not just focused on Catholics.
East Belfast man Jim Wilson's claim has been identified as the first case to be examined.
The 72-year-old was arrested in July 1973 and interned for 14 months at the old Long Kesh prison camp.
Mr Wilson has described how it resulted in him losing his house, job and missing out on the birth of his first child.
Another man in his nineties involved in the litigation previously expressed his desire for vindication.
At an earlier stage in the legal process he stated: “I was taken like a new-born child for nothing.”
Their claims are now set to come under judicial scrutiny in the High Court.Mr Duffy added: “Sadly it’s come just too late for some of the original 19 plaintiffs who started this case over a decade ago.
“Five of our clients have since died, but their families continue to fight on.”