Further info for Public Inquiries & Ombudsman

• How does Sedley describe the advantage of an inquiry being public?

  “By being public it borrows one of the strengths of the legal system, funnelling the arguments away from the anarchy and subjectivity of public debate and into the apparently objective and orderly forum of a proceeding which the world can watch.”
• What is an alternative to public inquiries according to Sedley?

  “Inquests are thus another tolerably flexible and still useful for public inquiry; not an expensive anachronism in the eyes of conscious central government but a worthwhile element in the management of public controversy.”
• What is an inquest?

  An official investigation into the cause and circumstances of a person's death (does not investigate public concern)
• According to Sedley, how does Lord Scarman describe the advantages of an inquiry being investigated by a judge?

  “ believe that a judge does have special qualifications in investigating disorders... He is a trained investigator of fact. He ...should be by nature impartial and detached....
• Why does Lord Scarman state that judges are perfect for investigating inquiries that involve social injustice?

  "A sense of injustice is not limited to people with legal or judicial training, but judges will certainly have experience in uncovering it and have an instinctive understanding of the causes and consequences of injustice. Above all judge has a passion for righting injustice”
• What is a disadvantage by Sedley that can pose an issue to the Government/public body in question?

  "A public inquiry can serve most or all of these ends. But one thing it cannot do is put an end to the publicity. The limelight will now swing on to the inquiry”
• How does Walshe state about the role of the Inquiries Act in being more favourable to MPs?

  “In reality, the new Inquiries Act gives government ministers unprecedented powers over the invitation, conduct, funding, staffing and direction of public inquiries”
• According to Walshe, what are some examples of the powers of MPs when establishing an inquiry?

  "ministers can suspend inquiries, or terminate them early...can withhold funding from activities that they consider to be outside the inquiry's terms of reference; ministers can restrict public access to inquiry hearings; and ministers (rather than inquiry chairs) are responsible for publishing inquiry reports and they can withhold parts of those reports from publication.”
• What quote can be used by Walshe that describes the role of MPs in creating the terms of reference & appointing the Chair?

  “Ministers appoint the inquiry chair and panel...ministers write the inquiry terms of reference, and can change those terms of reference at any time;
• What does Walshe say overall about the role of the Inquiries Act?

  “Overall, these changes seem designed to reduce the independence of future public inquiries, and to provide the government with a host of mechanisms for controlling inquiries at every step”
• What is one aim of public inquiries described by Walshe that Hoyle did not state? (and what Act archives that purpose)

  "serving the political interests of government. It seems that the new Inquiries Act certainly fits that final purpose”
• What are inquiries more likely to do according to Walshe?

  “Inquiries are likely to be more cautious and narrowly focused affairs, less able to pursue important issues which arise during the inquiry”
• What does Walshe state would occur because of the Inquiries Act?

  “Stakeholders (victims) are less likely to trust in the impartiality of inquiries when government ministers are able to influence proceedings from behind the scenes, and so it is less likely that inquiries will produce cathartic exposure and closure for people who were involved or affected.”
• How does James & Seneviratne describe the role of the Ombudsman?

  “Traditionally, an Ombudsman is seen principally as a citizen's defender, whether against the state or other powerful groups, as a mechanism for settling grievances or as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism.”
• What is the claim by Bradley that the Ombudsman does understand its limits when regards to trespassing to the court's authority?

  “Yet, the 1965 White Paper proposing the Ombudsman made clear, the new form of protection was intended to complement, and not to take over from, the existing means of courts, tribunals, public inquiries”
• How does Bradley state that the Ombudsman follows the traditions of British history?

  “the British tradition has emphasised the provision of an effective procedure for enforcement of rights…Although it did not provide a set remedy for the aggrieved citizens, it did provide a procedure for investigation of his complaints by the Ombudsman.”
• What further evidence by Bradley demonstrates the Ombudsman's cautiousness with trespassing to the court's authority?

  “Indeed, the power the English High Court are mentioned in the 1967 Act only relation to the Ombudsman's right to compel the attendance of witnesses and production of documents... It follows necessarily from this that the British Ombudsman has no power to extend the area of his investigations arbitrarily into such forbidden past as local government”
• According to Bradley, what sorts of important norms can the Ombudsman reinforce?

  Examples of basic norms...include the need to handle a citizen's affairs with reasonable speed, particularly in a situation where it is known to the administrator that delay will be harmful to the citizen's interests... when new benefits are created by Parliament to meet the needs of particular groups, to take effective steps to bring information about the new rights to the attention of those concerned.”
• What does Bradley state about s5 (2) (b) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967?

  “One particular point of intersection is provided by the 1967 Act, which in section 5 (2) (b) provides that the Ombudsman shall not investigate any administrative action " in respect of which the person aggrieved has or had a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law "; but the Act allows an investigation to be made where the Ombudsman is satisfied that it was not reasonable to expect the person aggrieved to go to the courts.”