The Joint Committee on Human Rights has called on the Government
to go further in improving how the state responds to major
tragedies. Human rights law requires effective investigations to
be carried out into deaths where the state may have been at
fault. The Committee calls for stronger measures to require
openness from public bodies, and more support for victims'
families to overcome an imbalance in legal support during
inquests.
Calls for a Hillsborough Law arose in response to the protracted
failure over several decades to uncover and acknowledge the truth
of what happened at Hillsborough. The Hillsborough Law Now
campaign has led the call for the adoption of specific proposals
designed to alter the way in which official inquiries into major
incidents are approached and conducted. This report examines the
need for these proposals and what progress has been made in
implementing them.
The Committee welcomes initial steps by Government to improve the
way public institutions respond to public inquiries and to
increase the legal support provided to bereaved families.
However, it warns that reforms will need to go substantially
further if they are to produce meaningful changes in how victims
and the public get to the truth.
It observes that public bodies may still prioritise protecting
institutional and individual reputations. Also, an imbalance in
legal resources between families and public bodies continues to
damage effective participation by families in inquests. Further
reform will be needed to resolve these issues if inquests and
inquiries are to enable bereaved families to understand what went
wrong and ensure lessons are learnt to avoid future
tragedies.
Victims' advocates could play a crucial role in helping families
navigate the maze of rules and procedures that govern how
inquiries into major incidents operate. Moves to establish a
standing advocate are welcomed, however there are concerns that
there could still be delays in appointing individual public
advocates to families following a major incident. The Committee
calls on the Government to take steps to ensure no delays
occur.
Creating a culture of openness
The report warns that “institutional defensiveness” in public
authorities remains a barrier to establishing the truth in public
inquiries and inquests. Introducing a duty of candour backed by
criminal sanctions should improve openness and engagement with
official investigations, but further work will be needed to
produce the required culture change in public bodies.
The Criminal Justice Bill, currently before Parliament, would
require the introduction of a type of duty of candour, but by
focusing on the police alone and appearing to rely on internal
disciplinary processes for enforcement, this would not meet the
calls of the Hillsborough Law Now campaign The Committee calls
for reform to be implemented more broadly, with a duty of candour
placed on all public bodies.
Access to legal support
An imbalance in legal resources between families and public
bodies remains a serious problem and needs to be addressed.
The Committee welcomes steps taken to improve access to legal
support to families at inquests and statutory inquiries,
including by removing means testing. However, inequality in
representation persists. This hinders the effective involvement
of families in proceedings, fails to meet human rights standards
and ultimately damages the ability of inquests to uncover the
truth of events.
It urges the Government to investigate further ways to ensure the
legal support available to families is proportionate to that of
state institutions. It notes the Government's commitment to
consulting on the extension of legal aid for inquests following
public disasters and welcomes recognition that funding for public
authorities is out of proportion to that spent on families.
However, this must not result in steps being taken that harm the
overall quality of representation, the Committee warns.
Publishing the report, Chair of the Joint Committee on Human
Rights, KC MP said:
“All of us on the human rights committee have huge respect and
admiration for the courage and fortitude of the families of those
who died at Hillsborough and the survivors. Just this week we
have also seen how the victims of the infected blood scandal had
to go through a similar struggle. It is shameful that their pain
was compounded by the delays and obfuscation they faced in their
search for the truth, and the decades they had to wait for
justice.
“Even so many years later lessons still have to be learnt to
ensure that these failures are not repeated. We are calling on
the Government to make sure there are cast iron measures in place
that give families as much clout at investigations as the public
bodies whose reputations are at risk. We also want to see more
widespread measures to establish a culture of openness to ensure
the truth is not hidden from the public and those
involved.”
