The Inquiry Rules 2006
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
2006 No. 1838
INQUIRIES
The Inquiry Rules 2006
Made 11th July 2006
Laid before Parliament 11th July 2006
Coming into force 1st August 2006
The Lord Chancellor makes the following rules in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 41 of the Inquiries Act 20051:
Citation and commencement
1. These Rules may be cited as the Inquiry Rules 2006 and shall come into force on 1st August 2006.
Interpretation
2. In these Rules—
“the Act” means the Inquiries Act 2005;
“award” means an award under section 40(1) of the Act;
“core participant” means a person designated as such under rule 5;
“costs assessor” means—
(a) in England and Wales, a costs judge;
(b) in Scotland, the Auditor of the Court of Session; and
(c) in Northern Ireland, the Master (Taxing Office);
“counsel to the inquiry” means the qualified lawyer or lawyers, if any, appointed by the chairman to act as counsel;
“designated email address” means the email address notified by a person to a member of the inquiry team, in writing, as the email address to be used for email communications;
“designated fax number” means—
(a) in the case of the inquiry, the fax number notified to witnesses (and their recognised legal representatives, if any) by the secretary to the inquiry, in whatever manner he sees fit, as the number to which faxes should be sent; and
(b) in the case of any other person, the fax number or numbers notified by that person to a member of the inquiry team, in writing, as the number to be used for communication by fax;
“designated postal address” means—
(a) in the case of the inquiry, the address notified to witnesses (and their recognised legal representative, if any) by the secretary to the inquiry, in whatever manner he sees fit, as the address to which correspondence should be addressed; and
(b) in the case of any other person, the address notified by that person to a member of the inquiry team, in writing, as the address to be used for postal communications;
“inquiry” means an inquiry under section 1 of the Act which a United Kingdom Minister causes to be held;
“inquiry record” means all documents given to or created by the inquiry;
“inquiry team” means—
(a) the inquiry panel;
(b) the counsel to the inquiry;
(c) the secretary to the inquiry;
(d) the solicitor to the inquiry;
(e) assessors appointed under section 11 of the Act; and
(f) any other person engaged (whether as an employee or under a contract for services) to provide administrative, legal or managerial assistance to the inquiry or to assist in any investigations which the inquiry may conduct;
“qualified lawyer” means—
(a) a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales;
(b) a solicitor or advocate in Scotland; or
(c) a solicitor or barrister in Northern Ireland;
“recognised legal representative” means a person designated under rule 6 or rule 7;
“relevant part of the United Kingdom” means the part of the United Kingdom in which costs claimant’s applications will be assessed;
“secretary to the inquiry” means a person appointed by the chairman to carry out (with the assistance of any deputies that may be appointed) the administration and management of the inquiry;
“solicitor to the inquiry” means the qualified lawyer (or other person certified by the Head of the Government Legal Service as suitable) appointed by the chairman to act as solicitor;
“warning letter” means a letter sent by the chairman to a person during the course of the inquiry which contains a statement to the effect that it is a warning letter; and
“witness” means any person to whom the inquiry panel has sent a written request for a written statement under rule 9(1).
3.—(1) Any requirement under these Rules that a document is given or sent to any person by a member of the inquiry team is satisfied by that document being—
(a)
(a) delivered in person;
(b)
(b) left at the person’s designated postal address;
(c)
(c) sent to the person’s designated postal address by first class post;
(d)
(d) faxed to the person’s designated fax number; or
(e)
(e) subject to paragraph (2), sent by email.
(2) A document may be sent by email to a person’s designated email address if the person has informed the secretary to the inquiry in writing that he is willing to accept documents sent email.
4.—(1) Any requirement under these Rules that a document is given or sent to the inquiry is satisfied by that document being—
(a)
(a) left at the inquiry’s designated postal address;
(b)
(b) sent to the inquiry’s designated postal address by first class post;
(c)
(c) faxed from the sender’s designated fax number to the inquiry’s designated fax number; or
(d)
(d) subject to paragraph (2), sent by email.
(2) A document may be sent by email from a person’s designated email address if the secretary to the inquiry has informed the person sending the email in writing—
(a)
(a) that he is willing to accept documents sent by email;
(b)
(b) of the email address to which the document must be sent; and
(c)
(c) if the secretary to the inquiry wishes to so specify, the electronic format in which the document must be sent.
Core participants
5.—(1) The chairman may designate a person as a core participant at any time during the course of the inquiry, provided that person consents to being so designated.
(2) In deciding whether to designate a person as a core participant, the chairman must in particular consider whether—
(a)
(a) the person played, or may have played, a direct and significant role in relation to the matters to which the inquiry relates;
(b)
(b) the person has a significant interest in an important aspect of the matters to which the inquiry relates; or
(c)
(c) the person may be subject to explicit or significant criticism during the inquiry proceedings or in the report, or in any interim report.
(3) A person ceases to be a core participant on—
(a)
(a) the date specified by the chairman in writing; or
(b)
(b) the end of the inquiry.
Recognised legal representative
6.—(1) Where—
(a)
(a) a core participant, other than a core participant referred to in rule 7; or
(b)
(b) any other person required or permitted to give evidence or produce documents during the course of the inquiry,
has appointed a qualified lawyer to act on that person’s behalf, the chairman must designate that lawyer as that person’s recognised legal representative in respect of the inquiry proceedings.
7.—(1) This rule applies where there are two or more core participants, each of whom seeks to be legally represented, and the chairman considers that—
(a)
(a) their interests in the outcome of the inquiry are similar;
(b)
(b) the facts they are likely to rely on in the course of the inquiry are similar; and
(c)
(c) it is fair and proper for them to be jointly represented.
(2) The chairman must direct that those core participants shall be represented by a single recognised legal representative, and the chairman may designate a qualified lawyer for that purpose.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), any designation must be agreed by the core participants in question.
(4) If no agreement on a designation is forthcoming within a reasonable period, the chairman may designate an appropriate lawyer who, in his opinion, has sufficient knowledge and experience to act in this capacity.
8. Nothing in rules 6 or 7 prohibit a person referred to in rule 6(1) from appointing a legal team to assist his recognised legal representative in the discharge of the recognised legal representative’s functions.
Evidence
9.—(1) The inquiry panel must send a written request for a written statement to any person from whom the inquiry panel proposes to take evidence.
(2) The inquiry panel must send a written request to any person that it wishes to produce any document or any other thing.
(3) The inquiry panel may make a written request for further evidence, being either a written statement or oral evidence.
(4) Any request for a written statement must include a description of the matters or issues to be covered in the statement.
Oral evidence
10.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) to (5), where a witness is giving oral evidence at an inquiry hearing, only counsel to the inquiry (or, if counsel has not been appointed, the solicitor to the inquiry) and the inquiry panel may ask questions of that witness.
(2) Where a witness, whether a core participant or otherwise, has been questioned orally in the course of an inquiry hearing pursuant to paragraph (1), the chairman may direct that the recognised legal representative of that witness may ask the witness questions.
(3) Where—
(a)
(a) a witness other than a core participant has been questioned orally in the course of an inquiry hearing by counsel to the inquiry, or by the inquiry panel; and
(b)
(b) that witness’s evidence directly relates to the evidence of another witness,
the recognised legal representative of the witness to whom the evidence relates may apply to the chairman for permission to question the witness who has given oral evidence.
(4) The recognised legal representative of a core participant may apply to the chairman for permission to ask questions of a witness giving oral evidence.
(5) When making an application under paragraphs (3) or (4), the recognised legal representative must state—
(a)
(a) the issues in respect of which a witness is to be questioned; and
(b)
(b) whether the questioning will raise new issues or, if not, why the questioning should be permitted.
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