Page 110 - When Things Go Wrong

and the (lack of clear) constitutional principles underpinning public inquiries
all warrant further consideration in light of our proposals.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

7.8. Our work began before the onset of the pandemic. But the current coronavirus
crisis provides “an excellent example of the limitations of the current system
for the investigation of multiple deaths involving potential systemic
failures”, 307 reinforcing the relevance and timeliness of this project. 308

7.9. To date, there have been upwards of 41,381 coronavirus deaths in the United
Kingdom. There have been widespread calls for a public inquiry. Given the
high number of fatalities, the broad socio-economic issues relevant to
causation and the disproportionate effect of the virus on BAME communities,
it has been argued persuasively that this is the only form of investigation with
309
sufficient scope and compulsive force able properly to address these issues.
7.10. The Prime Minister has committed to holding an independent inquiry at an
appropriate time. 310 However, the establishment of an effective public inquiry
ultimately depends on the Government’s willingness to open a full
investigation into its own handling of the crisis. 311 It is hard to think of a
potential sponsoring Department that would not also be implicated. Should the
Government fail to call an effective public inquiry, the justice system’s ability

307 Paul Bowen QC, ‘Learning lessons the hard way – Article 2 duties to investigate the Government’s
response to the Covid-19 pandemic’ (UK Constitutional Law Association, 29 April 2020)
308 Beyond the remit of this project, JUSTICE has undertaken considerable work on socially distanced
court spaces and best practice for remote hearings to enable the justice system to continue to function,
while ensuring the effective participation of all court users. Much of this work is relevant to how inquests
and inquiries can be heard in the wake of the pandemic.
309 See Daniel Machover, ‘Why now is exactly the right time to set up a coronavirus inquiry’ (The
Guardian, 6 May 2020)
310 ‘Coronavirus: PM promises future independent inquiry’ (BBC, 15 July 2020)
311 See Nicholas Griffin QC and Richard Spafford, ‘Covid-19 public inquiry: Asking the right questions’
(The Law Society Gazette, 18 May 2020)

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