Professor Brice Dickson was speaking after the High Court ruled that the Coroner at the Omagh bomb inquest was correct in his refusal to hear submissions from the Commission regarding the Royal Ulster Constabulary's response to the warning given before the bombing.

The inquest, which sat from September to October this year, was examining the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 29 people, killed by the Real IRA bombing of the County Tyrone town in 1998.

Professor Dickson said that the ruling by the Lord Chief Justice on Friday meant that the commission's "powers in relation to the protection of human rights in Northern Ireland may lack strength in law".

"I am extremely disappointed by the Lord Chief Justice's decision. It drives a coach and horses through the Human Rights Commission's ability to promote human rights in the courts," he added.

"It is a significant setback for us."

'Shocked'

In a statement the commissioners said they were "shocked" by the decision, "especially as three High Court Judges including the Lord Chief Justice had permitted the commission to make submissions".

They pointed out that the commission has also recently made submissions to the European Court.

"The purpose of the Human Rights Act was stated by the government to bring rights home to the people and this decision deprives the courts in Northern Ireland of the kind of assistance which has played an important role in decisions made by the Strasbourg Court on ECHR points," they added.

Irish Rights Commission 'delay'

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein's Bairbre de Brun, has criticised the Irish government's approach to setting up the Republic of Ireland's new Human Rights Commission as "hugely disappointing".