IRA men killed in Loughgall shootings
Members of the security forces are currently exempt from being compelled to attend inquests.
These include controversial inquests such as those into the shooting of IRA man Pearse Jordan and the killings of eight IRA men by soldiers of an undercover SAS unit at Loughgall, County Armagh, in 1987.
However, the law is to be changed soon following last year's European Court judgement when the British Government was ordered to pay £10,000 to the families of 12
IRA men - including Mr Jordan, shot in west Belfast in 1992.
Last May, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that the 12 men had their human rights violated.
The proposed change in the law was revealed in a reserved judgement in the High Court in Belfast on Tuesday.
The judgement was made in an application for judicial review brought by Pearse Jordan's father.
Mr Justice Kerr said he had been told by counsel for the Lord Chancellor, during the hearing earlier this month, that the change was expected to take place shortly after a meeting in mid-February.
Lawyers for Hugh Jordan had challenged the alleged failure of the Lord Chancellor to change the inquest system in the province to bring it into line with the European Convention on Human Rights.
That would enable juries to bring in a verdict of unlawful killing.
Dismissing the application, Mr Justice Kerr said giving a jury the right to return a verdict of unlawful killing did not fill the gap between an inquest investigation into the lawfulness of the force used to cause death, and the role of the DPP in relation to prosecution of offenders.
Future hearing
He said the gap was filled by ensuring the DPP was required to consider the possibility of beginning a prosecution of the criminal offences identified in the course of the inquest and to explain the reasons for a decision not to prosecute.
Pearse Jordan, 23, an IRA man from the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast, was shot dead by the RUC in disputed circumstances after a car collision on the Falls Road on 25 November 1992.
Witnesses claimed the stolen car he was driving was rammed and that, as he attempted to run away, he was shot three times in the back.
The DPP has already directed no prosecution against the RUC officer who fired the fatal shots and known simply as Sergeant A.
The change in the law which would force Sergeant A to give evidence is expected before the Jordan inquest resumes.
Mr Justice Kerr said in view of his conclusion that the coroner should investigate the lawfulness of the force used to cause death, he would be sending him a copy of his judgement in the hope it might be of assistance in any future hearing.
In Loughgall, the IRA men were killed along with a passer-by when undercover SAS soldiers ambushed them during an IRA attack on a police station.
The families said there was a failure to control and conduct the SAS ambush operation, and that there was no effective investigation into the circumstances of the shooting.