[JURIST] UK High Court Justice Ronnie Weatherup has dismissed an application by Irish republican party Sinn Fein [official website] for a judicial review of the British government's decision to withdraw taxpayer funding of a development grant worth about £100,000 annually after a report released by the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) [official website] found that the IRA command, which includes Sinn Fein leaders, had sanctioned violent and illegal activities. Sinn Fein accused the judge of political bias but did not announce any intention to appeal the decision. The IMC, which was formed by British and Irish governments to report on IRA [Wikipedia profile] activities, also said the IRA should face financial sanctions. In his order, Judge Weatherup said the British and Irish governments' legislation that established the IMC was legally constituted and also dismissed a Sinn Fein claim of procedural unfairness. Sinn Fein was also ordered to pay the British government's legal costs. Read the IMC report [PDF] on IRA activities. AP has more.