26 September 2024
Is reform of public inquiries now on the horizon?
On 16 September 2024 the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee (“the Committee”) published its report looking into the efficacy of the law and practice relating to statutory public inquiries held under the Inquiries Act 2005. The Committee, with Lord Norton of Louth as its chair, conducted oral sessions and considered written evidence from a selection of individuals and organisations including academics, experts, government officials, former Ministers, former inquiry chairs, secretaries, solicitors, barristers, representatives from campaign organisations and other interest groups.
8 August 2024
The politics of public inquiries
Statutory public inquiries have strong legal powers to compel witnesses to participate. How these are exercised depends on the circumstances and reflects the reality that public inquiries are part of the political process rather than the legal process, or a hybrid of the two.
16 July 2024
The energy transition - Labour unpick the past and outline their policy vision
Labour have hit the ground running on energy policy issues with several significant announcements in the days after coming into power. Ahead of the Kings Speech tomorrow (17 July), we look at the key developments in the last two weeks and what we might see going forward.
16 July 2024
(Another) legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities?
Labour’s manifesto promises a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities. But what are the implications?
24 June 2024
Supreme Court clarifies the law on 'downstream' emissions and Environmental Impact Assessments
A year on from hearing a ground-breaking challenge concerning the duty on planning authorities to consider “downstream” emissions when deciding planning applications, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in R(Finch) v Surrey County Council and ors [2024] UKSC 20 on Thursday morning (20 June 2024).