Page 79 - When Things Go Wrong

power to direct that it should not be made or to give directions as to its timing.
In other words there should be a rebuttable presumption that a position
statement is required.

4.47 Secondly there was a divergence of view within the Working Party as to
whether breach of the duty should be subject to criminal sanctions. Clause 3 of
the Bill would have created offences for intentional or reckless disregard of the
duty (including through misleading the general public, media or the court, or
through unreasonable failure to provide a witness statement). We understand
that the drafters intended the inclusion of such provisions to serve as a
backstop: some of us felt that their inclusion is essential to give the imposition
of a statutory duty teeth; others remained unconvinced.

4.48 The Working Party agrees that a statutory duty of candour should be
subject to the privilege against self-incrimination.

4.49 The Working Party considers that the introduction of a clearly defined statutory
duty of candour will significantly enhance the participation of bereaved people
and survivors, giving some sense of the organisation’s position at the outset
and so limiting the possibility of evasiveness or ambush. Further, and critically,
by directing the investigation to the most important matters at an early stage, a
statutory duty of candour should strengthen the ability of the inquiry to reach
the truth, and to do so without undue delay.

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