In the United Kingdom, the term

public inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...

refers to either statutory or non-statutory inquiries that have been established either previously by the

Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

or by government ministers of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

and

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

governments to investigate either specific, controversial events or policy proposals. Non-statutory public inquiries are often used in order to investigate controversial events of national concern, the advantage being that they are more flexible than the statutory inquiry as they do not needing to follow the requirements of the

Inquiries Act 2005 The Inquiries Act 2005 (c 12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. According to the explanatory notes, published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, the Act "is intended to provide a comprehensive statutory framework for ...

, The Inquiry Rules 2006 (UK, excluding Scotland) and The Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2007. Statutory inquiries can be held as subject-specific public inquiries, however most are now held under the Inquiries Act 2005 which repealed the

Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 The Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, now repealed, which set out the powers and functions of certain Tribunals of Inquiry along with the procedures for the taking of evidence. The Act did ...

. This list excludes Public Local Inquiries (which encompasses Planning Inquiries, Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiries, Listed Building Inquiries etc.) Only United Kingdom government ministers can establish public inquiries, set their terms of reference, and appoint the chair. The UK Government considers that the main purpose of public inquiries is in “preventing recurrence”. Between 1990 and 2017 UK governments spent at least £630m on public inquiries, with most expensive being the

Bloody Sunday Inquiry The Bloody Sunday Inquiry, also known as the Saville Inquiry or the Saville Report after its chairman, Lord Saville of Newdigate, was established in 1998 by British Prime Minister Tony Blair after campaigns for a second inquiry by families of t ...

costing £210.6 million. Most public inquiries take about two years to complete their work. The Hammond Inquiry into ministerial conduct relating to the Hinduja affair in 2001 has been the shortest inquiry, taking just 45 days to report its findings. The Inquiry into Hyponatraemia-related Deaths in Northern Ireland is the longest, which took 13 years and three months to conclude.

Types of public inquiry

There are two types of public inquiry, the statutory inquiry and the non-statutory inquiry. Statutory public inquiries are led by a panel of professional people with a chairperson, which are often

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s, or a lord, professor, senior civil servant, scientist, doctor or engineer. The big difference between the two types of public inquiries is that the non-statutory inquiry cannot compel witnesses to either give evidence under oath or to produce evidence relevant to the inquiry. There are four types of non-statutory inquiries: *Non-statutory 'ad-hoc' inquiries, including independent panels, *Royal Commissions, *Committees of Privy Counsellors, ''and'' *Departmental inquiries. Public inquiries in the UK have historically been widely used, especially royal commissions. Royal commissions were used so that the monarchy could obtain advice and inquire into matters and misconduct outside of institutions, such as parliament. The first royal commission goes back to

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

in the

11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 ( MI) through 1100 ( MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. Th ...

, when he nominated an inquiry to produce the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of land ownership. Royal commissions were later appointed by governments to obtain expert advice on subjects such as health, education, labour reform, public administration, welfare and factory legislation. ; Subject-specific public inquiries Subject-specific public inquiries are sections held within other

acts of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament ...

which also have the powers of statutory public inquiries, these include; *section 3 of the

Children Act 2004 The Children Act 2004 (c 31) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act amended the Children Act 1989, largely in consequence of the Victoria Climbié inquiry. The Act is now the basis for most official administration that is ...

, carried out by the Children's Commissioner, *section 14 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and before that the Offshore Installations (Public Inquiries) Regulations 1974, *sections 6872 of the

Financial Services Act 2012 The Financial Services Act 2012 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which implements a new regulatory framework for the financial system and financial services in the UK. It replaces the Financial Services Authority with two new ...

, *the

Merchant Shipping Act 1995 The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 is an Act of Parliament passed in the United Kingdom in 1995. It consolidated much of the UK's maritime legislation, repealing several Acts in their entirety and provisions in many more, some dating back to the mid ...

, *regulation 16(13) of the Civil Aviation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations 1969, and *schedule 1 of the

Coroners and Justice Act 2009 The Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (c. 25) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the law on coroners and criminal justice in England and Wales. Among its provisions are: *preventing criminals from profiting from publica ...

, which enables non-statutory inquests to be converted into statutory inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005. ; Public local inquiries A Public Local Inquiry is an inquiry led by the independent

Planning Inspectorate The Planning Inspectorate for England (sometimes referred to as PINS) is an executive agency of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities of the United Kingdom Government with responsibility for making decisions and providing reco ...

, for various local issues involving a

local planning authority A local planning authority (LPA) is the local government body that is empowered by law to exercise urban planning functions for a particular area. They exist in the United Kingdom and India. United Kingdom Mineral planning authorities The role ...

. They follow formal rules and procedures, and they could include a

planning application Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

which has been refused permission, in which case it is called a Planning Inquiry, or an appeal against a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

, which are called a Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiry, or listed building consent appeals, which are called a Listed Building Inquiry. These types of inquiries may last for up to several days, or even weeks. Inquiries are usually held in local planning authority offices, village halls or community centres. One example of a Public Local Inquiry was the inquiry into the M4 Corridor around Newport Project in Wales, which followed The Highways (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1994 and The Compulsory Purchase (Inquiries Procedure) (Wales) Rules 2010. This list excludes these types of inquiries.

Statutory public inquiries

Public inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005

Current public inquiries

Former public inquiries

Public inquiries under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921

Public inquiries under subject-specific legislation

Non-statutory public inquiries

'Ad-hoc' public inquiries

Current 'ad-hoc' public inquiries

Former 'ad-hoc' public inquiries

Independent panels

Current independent panels

Former independent panels

Royal Commissions

The last royal commission was established during the Blair government in 1999, when he established the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords.

Ad hoc Committees of Privy Counsellors

Ad hoc committees are made up of members of the Privy Council as they can be informed on ‘Privy Council Terms’, which allows members of the committees to be informed on the understanding that any secret information provided will remain confidential.

Notes

References

{{Reflist

External links

A Guide to Public InquiriesInquiries Guidance - Guidance for Inquiries Chairs and Secretaries, and Sponsor DepartmentsNational Audit Office investigation into government-funded inquiries

Public inquiries In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...