Public Inquiries

Northern Ireland lawyer Aine Tyrrell considers the circumstances in which a public inquiry is justified. Since the start of this century, the public in Northern Ireland have become all too familiar with the role that a public inquiry can play in investigating a particular incident or set of events.

Northern Ireland MPs have backed a call for the UK government to establish an independent public inquiry into the UK's involvement in the Gaza war. An open letter penned by Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader turned independent MP, has been signed by 30 other MPs and five Lords.

Health Minister Robin Swann has announced that he is calling a statutory public inquiry into the abuse reported at Muckamore Abbey Hospital. The inquiry follows two reports into the abuse at the hospital, and comes alongside an ongoing major police investigation.

Mr Justice Peter Charleton, the Supreme Court judge who chaired the recent Disclosures Tribunal, has called for a "rebalancing" of the tribunal of inquiry system, warning that their functioning is becoming "close to impossible". The senior judge made the remarks in the 19th Annual John Hume Lecture,