Mr. Amaral is said to have ‘rejoiced’ in the court’s verdict and told Lusa News Agency it was proof “there is a democracy after all”.

He said that he had expected the court to overrule the injunction placed on the selling of the book by missing Madeleine McCann’s parents.

“The book is an exercise of citizenship and freedom of expression. With this decision by the court it was Portuguese democracy that won, as the banning of book sales was unconstitutional”, said Gonçalo Amaral.

The ex-inspector also said the court’s decision was “very important” for the two pending lawsuits currently in place against him but for which no start dates have been set for the trials.

In a civil lawsuit, Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of Madeleine, are seeking €1.2 million in compensation for defamation. In a second case Amaral is accused of violating the secret of justice.

Isabel Duarte, the McCann’s lawyer, declined to comment on the court’s quashing of the ban and simply said “the decision is being analysed so we can react”.

In turn the book’s publishers Guerra & Paz, which edited ‘Maddie – The Truth of the Lie’ in July 2008, said it would “immediately proceed with all diligences to free up the seized copies [of the book] and put the book at the disposal of the Portuguese public”.

In a statement the publishing house said Gonçalo Amaral’s book “is a relevant contribution for the discovery of material truth” and classified the overturn as respecting “the right to inform and the right to an opinion”.

Earlier this year a Lisbon court ruled that an injunction placed on the controversial book in September last year should remain in place. At the time Kate and Gerry McCann said they were “very pleased and relieved by the judge’s decision”.

In his book, Gonçalo Amaral defends the theory that Kate and Gerry McCann were in some way involved in their daughter’s disappearance from the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday.

Edition: 1084