The Government could be forced to withdraw parts of the controversial Guerin Report, which led to the resignation of former minister Alan Shatter.

It's after the Court of Appeal yesterday upheld an appeal by the former justice minister, over how the report was written by senior counsel Sean Guerin.

Guerin was commissioned in 2014, by Enda Kenny, to investigate the handling of allegations of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe in the Cavan-Monaghan area. 

His evenutal report criticised Alan Shatter over how he handled the allegations, and in one case accused the then-minister of referring a complaint about Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan directly to Callinan himself for investigation.

The report caused Shatter resigned as minister, after Enda Kenny told him he no longer had confidence in him - although the later O'Higgins Commission went on to exhonerate his handling of the affair. 

Shatter went on to take unsuccessful High Court action against Sean Guerin, who did not consult with or interview him while his report was written.

However the Court of Appeal yesterday upheld Shatter's challenge, finding that Shatter's "constitutional rights were in jeopardy" because of the "defective procedure". 

However the court has yet to indicate what sort of redress should be given - and it is not known whether Guerin himself will have to amend or withdraw the report, or where the Government will have to amend, clarify or withdraw it.

Dr Fiona Donlan from University College Cork says the ruling will not necessarily force every inquiry to consult the people being investigated.

But she says it may mean big changes for so-called "scoping inquiries" in the future: