On Thursday, the Gibraltar Government announced a bill aimed at updating our Inquiries legislation. Usually, bills in parliament are tabled six weeks before they are voted on, in order to give MPs and the public a chance to analyse them and raise concerns. This time, however, the government has used emergency powers to rush the bill through, seemingly ahead of the McGrail Inquiry set to kick off in just a few weeks.

The McGrail Inquiry seeks to investigate allegations that Mr. McGrail, former commissioner of the police, was coerced into early retirement. He claims that he was pressured by the Chief Minister to step down because he sought to execute a search warrant on associates of the Chief Minister. 

The government cites alignment with the UK Inquiries Bill as the reason for this legislative change. However, it’s worth noting that the UK law in question was ratified back in 2005, nearly twenty years ago. The GSLP-led government has had three full terms to address any necessary updates, including the two years since the establishment of the McGrail Inquiry.

Transparency International UK, has already expressed reservations about the proposed bill. They assert that it could compromise the independence of the McGrail Inquiry and potentially tarnish Gibraltar’s governance and reputation. This is especially worrying at a time when we are trying to finalise a deal with the EU to secure Gibraltar’s security and prosperity.

Furthermore, this is not the first instance of alleged misconduct related to the McGrail Inquiry. In 2023 the Gibraltar government’s lawyer, Peter Caruana was accused of threatening two leading human rights lawyers during a preliminary hearing and drawing condemnation from the UK International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute.
The government has promised in a statement not to use the Bill to cancel the McGrail Inquiry. However, this is a cold comfort as we will just have to take their word for it. We propose that the government do the right thing and make this stance binding.

Given that this bill is now likely to be forced through, Together Gibraltar appeals to all MPs to support an amendment to the bill that it will not apply retrospectively to inquiries currently in progress.

ENDS

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