CALL WITH LEADING ACADEMIC TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF NEW INQUIRIES ACT IN GIBRALTAR

Together Gibraltar has hosted a call with a leading academic in UK Inquiries to discuss the potential impact of the newly passed Inquiries Act in Gibraltar.

Given the potential ramifications to Gibraltar’s governance and reputation, the party had extended an invitation to the Minister for Justice, Trade & Industry, who declined to attend.

The call was held with Dr Ireton, Associate Professor of Law at Nottingham Trent University and an expert who has written extensively about the UK Inquiries Act and has given evidence to the House of Lords on its suitability. The discussion made it clear that, whilst the Act is generally considered to provide a suitable framework for public inquiries, there have been concerns from the outset about the extent of powers granted to the minister, which have the potential to undermine the independence of a public inquiry and undermine trust and confidence in the process.  These include the power to terminate the appointment of the chair and panel members, to restrict public access, and to withhold material in the inquiry report from publication.[EI1] 

Gibraltarians are rightly concerned about the excessive powers this Act will grant the government, as well as the potential damage it could do to Gibraltar’s reputation and prosperity.

While this legislation was pushed through quickly in the UK, that appears to have been, in a large part, due to concerns about the ballooning costs of public inquiries following the lengthy and expensive Bloody Sunday Inquiry.  In Gibraltar, the only justification given for the rush was that the government’s legal representative (Sir Peter Caruana) believes it will be more beneficial for his clients if the McGrail Inquiry were to proceed under this new act.

Ireton, explained that the predicted collapse in confidence pubic inquiries in the UK, as a result of the new powers granted to the minister, did not materialise as UK ministers have not, in fact, used those powers to interfere with inquiries. However, it is important that inquiries are independent and are seen to be independent.

There remains a strong argument that the power of the UK minister under the Act should be reduced to ensure the independence of the public inquiry process.  This, and other aspects of the UK Act, are currently being reviewed by a House of Lords special committee.

The independence of public inquiries should not be left to chance. The fact that Gibraltar does not have many of the safeguards present in the UK raises serious concerns that the government will be able to act with impunity.

Another professor, Robert Barrington, echoed these concerns last week, stating that achieving independence in the judiciary, police, or other pillars of the state is “hard to

achieve when everyone knows everyone”. He also warned that using the new powers granted by this Act could damage Gibraltar’s relationship with the EU and put us back on the FATF grey-list, which we worked so hard to get off.

Ireton stated that, even for very sensitive matters such as the inquiry into the UK’s role in the Iraq War, the power to redact documents was used sparingly. As such, any attempt to redact information in Gibraltar must be scrutinised heavily.

Together Gibraltar will continue to monitor the activities of the government and keep the public informed. We all have a duty to ensure that the government does not put Gibraltar at risk to save their own skin.

ENDS