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09 May 2025 / Joanna Ludlam
Issue: 8115 / Categories: Features , Public , Governance , Company
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Accountability matters

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Public inquiries & parliamentary hearings are a risk companies cannot ignore: Joanna Ludlam sets out how best to prepare for the spotlight
  • Public inquiries and parliamentary hearings have become essential mechanisms for examining corporate conduct and holding companies accountable for their actions.
  • Good corporate governance should include preparations for potential questioning, involving legal advisers and communication professionals to manage responses effectively.

We are living through a period of history marked by a number of global crises. Climate change, threats to human rights, and economic instability are examples of these ever-present challenges, and such challenges have placed companies under increasing scrutiny where their operations can be linked or consequential to these issues. This is a risk companies must proactively manage.

The spotlight is often pointed at the role of corporate actors, and the demands for accountability have been growing louder. With this, public inquiries and parliamentary committee hearings have become prominent ways in which conduct is examined. They allow for light to be shed on past failures and can inform future standards.

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NEWS
The government has pledged to ‘move fast’ to protect children from harm caused by artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, and could impose limits on social media as early as the summer
All eyes will be on the Court of Appeal (or its YouTube livestream) next week as it sits to consider the controversial Mazur judgment
An NHS Foundation Trust breached a consultant’s contract by delegating an investigation into his knowledge of nurse Lucy Letby’s case
Draft guidance for schools on how to support gender-questioning pupils provides ‘more clarity’, but headteachers may still need legal advice, an education lawyer has said
Litigation funder Innsworth Capital, which funded behemoth opt-out action Merricks v Mastercard, can bring a judicial review, the High Court ruled last week
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