LONG-DELAYED Troubles inquests will be put back further if the assembly does not agree to seek extra funding before May's elections, the Lord Chief Justice has warned.
In a speech to a Commission for Victims & Survivors conference in Belfast, Sir Declan Morgan said justice minister David Ford is to invite the executive to request money from the British government for legacy inquests.
The Alliance leader will also tell the ministers how much funding will be needed to start addressing the inquest backlog.
Last month the Lord Chief Justice announced he intends to set up a Legacy Inquest Unit to handle outstanding cases - provided money is available.
The backlog includes 56 cases involving the deaths of almost 100 people.
Cases include the shooting of eight IRA men at Loughgall, the loyalist murder of GAA official Sean Brown in Co Derry, and the IRA killing of 10 Protestant men at Kingsmill.
Sir Declan said there was still time before the assembly elections for the executive to put forward a funding bid to Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.
If the request is agreed, the inquest unit could be set up within months and hearings begin in September. All legacy cases could then be heard within five years.
"If there is no response before the election, we will almost certainly not be able to achieve a September start date, which would be extremely disappointing," he said.
The north's most senior judge said if there was no funding, "at best" one or two cases could be looked at before Christmas.
"I urge the executive and the Secretary of State not to miss this window of opportunity."
Sir Declan said the legacy unit needs to be properly staffed and will require a new electronic data management system to cope with the large amounts of documents involved.
He said the model for the data system could be transferred to other legacy cases.
"This would not only improve the efficiency with which materials relating to legacy inquests are dealt with but could also provide a template that would support historic investigations by the HIU (Historical Investigations Unit), once it is established, and a truth recovery process," he said.
Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who met the Victims Commissioner yesterday, said he was "optimistic" all legacy issues could be resolved.
He said the British government must play its part and allow families "maximum disclosure".
"I am a bit disappointed that some don’t see a resolution before the election but it gives me the impression that people are up for resolving it post election," he said.
"However, the last thing we need coming out of the election is more talks, we know what the problem is and we need to find a solution now."
