The public inquiry: Investigation and accountability

2021 ◽  
pp. 624-663
Keyword(s):  
The Public ◽  
Public Inquiry

Nearly the end of the beginning of a never-ending story

1998 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Goddard
Keyword(s):  
Child Abuse ◽  
Residential Care ◽  
The Public ◽  
North Wales ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
Children’S Homes

The abuse of children in residential care has been one of the major scandals of the 1990s. This paper examines the largest child abuse inquiry ever held in Britain, the public inquiry into abuse of children in Children’s Homes in North Wales. The story, it is suggested, is almost too large to comprehend and too scandalous to absorb. One major lesson to be considered is that hundreds of victims each had his or her own story to tell but few people were prepared to listen.

Lacking conviction: Inquiries and trials after Bristol

2019 ◽  
pp. 73-97
Author(s):  
Simon Peplow
Keyword(s):  
Party Politics ◽  
Local People ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
The City

This chapter charts the divided response to the St Pauls disturbance, through rejected appeals for a public inquiry and the authorities’ alternative reaction, which attempted to divert attention onto law and order and away from governmental policies. There was a clear division of local attitudes between moderates, who desired the societal legitimisation of a public inquiry, and radical or younger groups, more likely to have been involved in disturbances, who believed it would be a diversion or ‘whitewash’. Other government measures that were implemented – such as select committees turning their focus to the city – were thus boycotted by various groups, who thought their attendance would imply satisfaction with this limited response; similarly, attempted left-wing inquiries were snubbed by local people who rejected attempts to introduce party politics. This chapter lastly examines failed court trials to convict twelve locals under the serious charge of riotous assembly; influenced by criticism directed towards Bristol police for their temporary withdrawal during the disorder, authorities continued their focus upon law and order to the detriment of wider social or political issues, attempting to obtain criminal sentences to reassure the public and deter future violence.

scholarly journals Policy learning and the public inquiry

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alastair Stark
Keyword(s):  
Policy Learning ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Inquiry

scholarly journals Thinking security through the event: Materiality, politics and publicity in the Litvinenko affair

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Ingram
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Element ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Analytical Strategy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Working Through ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
Security Agent

While the turn towards materiality over the course of the last decade has enriched studies of security in a variety of ways, the security field continues to pose challenges for materially oriented thinking. This article argues that while recent materially oriented work on security has been concerned with events, working through the question of the event as a central analytical strategy is a promising way of addressing such challenges and developing broader insights. The article develops this argument by working through a particular event, the killing of the former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006 by means of the radioactive element polonium 210. Approaching the event via the archive and report of the public inquiry that subsequently took place into it, and reflecting further on the utility of Bruno Latour’s idea of dingpolitik for materially oriented work on security, the article explores transformations of materiality, politics and publicity, and draws out how polonium 210 came to figure in the killing and the inquiry as actant, trace and evidence. In conclusion, the article reflects on the conceptual value of working through events and the methodological issues raised in the analysis.

scholarly journals Developing the Esperanto of quality

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Jennifer W Majoor ◽  
Joseph E Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Providers ◽  
New South ◽  
Royal Infirmary ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
High Court ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
Personal Performance ◽  
High Court Of Australia

Professionalism is a complex and ill-defined concept and the impending Report of the Public Inquiry into thepaediatric cardiac surgery service at the Bristol Royal Infirmary continues to heighten debate on the subject.Bolsin offers examples of operational definitions from the Privy Council (United Kingdom), the state healthauthorities in New South Wales and Victoria, and the High Court of Australia. He also provides an implicitdefinition of professionalism that encompasses the collection and use of personal performance data forindividual health care providers and organisations.

scholarly journals How do those affected by a disaster organize to meet their needs for justice? Campaign strategies and partial victories following the Grenfell Tower fire

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selin Tekin Guven ◽  
John Drury
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Campaign Strategies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Self Organized ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
The Government

Previous research has shown that disasters often involve a sense of injustice among affected communities. But the process through which ‘disaster communities’ organise to confront such injustices have not been investigated by social psychology. This study addresses this gap by examining how community members impacted by the Grenfell Tower fire self-organized to demand justice in response to government neglect. Thematic analysis of interviews with fifteen campaigners helped us to understand the shared responses of those involved in support campaigns following the fire. Campaigners aimed to: overcome injustice against the government inactions in the aftermath of the fire; empower their community against government neglect; create a sense of community for people who experienced injustice. Community members created a petition calling on the government to build trust in the public inquiry; they achieved their goals with the participation of people from wider communities. We found that reaching out to allies and building shared social identity among supporters were two main ways to achieve campaign goals. The study suggests ways that ‘disaster communities’ can be sustained after the disaster to form the basis of effective collective action. Specifically, shared social identity is a key mechanism for communities who are affected by a disaster, enabling them to act as one when they seek justice as well as overcome the effects of disaster.

scholarly journals Interview with Judge Kate O'Regan

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elrena Van der Spuy
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Police Leadership ◽  
The Public ◽  
Safe Spaces ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
Commissions Of Inquiry ◽  
Inside Out

In August 2012 Kate O'Regan, a former judge of the South African Constitutional Court, was appointed by the premier of the Western Cape to head the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of Police Inefficiency and a Breakdown in Relations between SAPS and the Community in Khayelitsha. Two years later, on 25 August 2014, the commission submitted its final report and recommendations. In this exchange O'Regan reflects from the inside out on some aspects of the public inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha. Here one finds reference to judicial independence and organisational autonomy of commissions of inquiry; the value of comparative lesson drawing for process design; the importance of creating safe spaces for all participants; and honouring the contributions of participants. Policing, O'Regan concludes, is a truly challenging enterprise. Both political and police leadership carry a moral responsibility to engage systemic and other challenges as identified in both of the Marikana and Khayelitsha reports. Not to do so would imply the abdication of responsibility to address the safety and security concerns of South African citizens.

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