Page 71 - When Things Go Wrong

Inquiry was widely criticised by bereaved and survivor core participants, 197
despite the inquiry team’s stated commitment to accessibility. 198 JUSTICE
staff also observed a hearing of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual
Abuse (IICSA), during which we noted that the room was set up so that the
panel was turned away from the survivor core participants in attendance, and
a LiveText screen and corporate banner obscured the survivors’ view of the
panel altogether.

4.25 The Infected Blood Inquiry has made a concerted effort to avoid problems such
as these. Recognising the geographical spread of those affected, hearings are
held at rotating venues throughout the United Kingdom. In his opening
remarks, the Chair stressed that:

[The inquiry] is not run for the benefit of lawyers, but for people who are
involved. So, the hearing room will be designed so that there won't be
ranks of lawyers in the front row, obscuring the view of the public, who
need to hear, the people who have been infected, affected, those
concerned, those touched by the Inquiry. My aim is to have lawyers to one
side, press to the other and members of the public in front of the witness,
who will take centre stage, as the witness should. The judge won’t. There
isn’t a judge. It is an Inquiry. 199

Following this example, local authorities and inquiry teams administrating
inquests, SPIs and public inquiries should ensure that venue(s) for
hearings are chosen and designed in order to prioritise the needs of
bereaved people and survivors. 200

197 INQUEST (2019), supra note 11, para 2.3.
198 See Mark Fisher, Letter to Deborah Coles (13 September 2018).
199 Infected Blood Inquiry, Preliminary Hearing 24 September 2018, p. 6.
200 We note this is already anticipated in Chief Coroners Guidance No. 2: Location of Inquests, para 4:
“In reaching a decision on the venue for an inquest…the coroner should take due account, as with all
the other inquest arrangements, of the views of interested persons including bereaved relatives and the
distances they may have to travel to attend the inquest”.
64