This chapter outlines the role of public inquiries within the broader context of administrative justice. The focus of this chapter is ad hoc inquires established under the royal prerogative or the Inquiries Act 2005 to consider a matter of public concern. Such inquiries fulfil several purposes, and supplement other forms of accountability. The chapter then discusses the key features of public inquiries, including the importance of the terms of reference which establish the remit of the inquiry. The next important question is the choice of chair or panel, and in particular as to whether a senior judge should be used to chair the inquiry. There are some circumstances when the use of a judicial chair is perhaps less appropriate, including when the inquiry is likely to veer into matters of political controversy. Other considerations include whether inquiries should sit in private or public, and the impact of an inquiries report once it has been released to the public.
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This chapter, which examines the nature, function, and legal framework of inquiries, also discusses the inquiry process and the effectiveness of inquiries. Inquiries have been widely criticised due to their chequered history—one that has been characterised by lengthy proceedings, high costs, and reports which have sometimes met with public dissension over the correctness of the conclusions reached or indifference from the government. They are also accused of being susceptible to manipulation by the government for its own political ends. Nevertheless, inquiries are an important mechanism for undertaking a detailed investigation into an issue of public concern and for holding government accountable.
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This chapter discusses the concept of administrative justice. The complexity and scale of modern government means that it is inevitable that sometimes things will go wrong. Public bodies make hundreds of thousands of decisions each year. Sometimes, the pressures of making thousands of decisions on finite resources mean that public bodies may not treat members of the public appropriately and not fulfil the aims of good government. When things go wrong, some will wish to challenge decisions made by the public authorities. Although such disputes are usually resolved by the courts applying the principles of judicial review, alternatives such as statutory tribunals, the ombudsman, and public inquiry provide other ways to challenge decisions made by public bodies. These three procedures form the basis of the system of administrative justice.
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Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the role of a range of accountability methods to scrutinize the executive’s use of power. This includes the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, who is now also known as the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the role of tribunals in contrast to courts, of public inquiries and of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms too. It also examines the limitations of each of these methods, and how they may complement each other to provide different forms of scrutiny.
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Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the role of a range of accountability methods to scrutinize the executive’s use of power. This includes the work of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration, who is now also known as the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the role of tribunals in contrast to courts, of public inquiries and of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms too. It also examines the limitations of each of these methods, and how they may complement each other to provide different forms of scrutiny.
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This chapter begins with discussions of the role of the judiciary in the UK, its relationships with other institutions, and qualifications for being a judge. It then considers the issue of judicial independence and how independence can be retained while ensuring that judges are accountable. There is a mini case study on the controversies surrounding media criticism of the judges following the decisions in the Miller case. The chapter also considers impartiality; the appointment of judges; the need to improve diversity of the judiciary; and the use of judges to chair public inquiries.
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Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Re Finucane’s Application for Judicial Review [2019] UKSC 7, UK Supreme Court. This case concerns first, the law relating to legitimate expectations, and second the requirements to establish an Article 2-compliant investigation into a death. The facts of the case are connected to the murder of Patrick Finucane by loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. The document also includes supporting commentary and questions from author Thomas Webb.
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Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. This case document summarizes the facts and decision in Re Finucane’s Application for Judicial Review [2019] UKSC 7, UK Supreme Court. This case concerns first, the law relating to legitimate expectations, and second the requirements to establish an Article 2-compliant investigation into a death. The facts of the case are connected to the murder of Patrick Finucane by loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland. The document also includes supporting commentary from author Thomas Webb.
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This chapter focuses on the administrative justice system. Administrative justice refers to the systems that enable individuals to resolve complaints, grievances, and disputes about administrative or executive decisions of public bodies, and to obtain redress. Grievance mechanisms exist to achieve redress and to ensure accountability and improved public administration. They include formal court action through judicial review, but range well beyond the courts to informal, non-legal mechanisms. Whereas a public inquiry may concern a grievance of a larger section of the public and can raise political issues, an inquiry by an Ombudsman concerns a grievance of an individual or small group, with a different fact-finding process. Meanwhile, tribunals determine rights and entitlements in disputes between citizens and state in specific areas of law, such as social security, immigration and asylum, and tax.
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This chapter focuses on the administrative justice system. Administrative justice refers to the systems that enable individuals to resolve complaints, grievances, and disputes about administrative or executive decisions of public bodies, and to obtain redress. Grievance mechanisms exist to achieve redress and to ensure accountability and improved public administration. They include formal court action through judicial review, but range well beyond the courts to informal, non-legal mechanisms. Whereas a public inquiry may concern a grievance of a larger section of the public and can raise political issues, an inquiry by an Ombudsman concerns a grievance of an individual or small group, with a different fact-finding process. Meanwhile, tribunals determine rights and entitlements in disputes between citizens and state in specific areas of law, such as social security, immigration and asylum, and tax.
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This chapter discusses UK law on the control of mergers. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2 provides an overview of the domestic system of merger control. Section 3 explains the procedure of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) when determining whether a merger should be referred for an in-depth ‘Phase 2’ investigation and when deciding to accept ‘undertakings in lieu’ of a reference. Section 4 describes how Phase 2 investigations are conducted and Section 5 discusses the ‘substantially lessening competition’ (‘SLC’) test. Section 6 explains the enforcement powers in the Enterprise Act 2002, including the remedies that the CMA can impose in merger cases. The subsequent sections discuss various supplementary matters, such as powers of investigation and enforcement. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the merger control provisions work in practice and a brief account of the provisions on public interest cases, other special cases and mergers in the water industry. The withdrawal by the UK from the EU means that many mergers that were subject to a ‘one-stop shop’ under EU law are now subject to investigation in the UK as well.
