The Belfast-born social services chief Sharon Shoesmith, has been granted leave to appeal against the High Court ruling that upheld her sacking after the Baby P tragedy.
In April she lost the first round of a legal battle to overturn her dismissal as director of children's services at Haringey Council in north London.
But Mr Justice Foskett ruled on Wednesday that she can challenge his judgment in the Court of Appeal - and ordered that Ms Shoesmith should pay only a fraction of the legal costs incurred in the case.
Baby Peter died in August 2007 at the hands of his mother Tracey Connelly, her lover Steven Barker and their lodger Jason Owen.
He had suffered 50 injuries despite receiving 60 visits from social workers, doctors and police over the final eight months of his life.
A series of reviews identified missed opportunities when officials could have saved Peter's life if they had acted properly on the warning signs in front of them.
Haringey Council sacked Ms Shoesmith without compensation in December 2008 after a damning inspectors' report found the local authority's child protection services were "inadequate".
© UTV News