Mr Finucane, who represented several leading republicans during the 1980s, was shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries at his home in north Belfast in 1989.

A UN report, drawn up by Malaysian jurist Param Cumaraswamy, called for a fresh inquiry after colleagues of the dead man claimed the RUC hinted to leading paramilitaries that he was an IRA member.

Mr Finucane was gunned down in front of his wife, Geraldine

But the Northern Ireland Office said: "Unless new evidence is brought to light, there could be no justification for another inquiry, although the police file remains open."

Meanwhile Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam says reform of the RUC will be "evolutionary not revolutionary".

She told the Commons Northern Ireland Committee that fundamental change of the force would not happen until a peace settlement had properly "bedded down".

But she said change would come and could not be blocked by any of the Northern Ireland parties.

Reform of the RUC, which is 93% Protestant, has emerged as one of the key issues still to be resolved in the talks process.

Sinn Fein say fundamental change is essential but the Ulster Unionists have been resisting proposals for reform of the force.

Mo Mowlam: 'Change will be evolutionary'

Dr Mowlam said: "Changes in the composition of the RUC have to take place against a backdrop of peace, but if that backdrop is there it will happen."

She said in the event of a lasting peace the force would be scaled down from its current strength of 13,000 to something closer to the level of an English constabulary.