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25 October 2024 / Jo Delahunty KC , Colin Wells
Issue: 8091 / Categories: Opinion , Public , Inquests , Criminal , Human rights , Media
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Fighting for truth

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The Hillsborough Law is decades overdue. Colin Wells & Jo Delahunty KC explain why its provisions should be used to deliver justice to those who need protection when agencies have failed them

The Public Authority (Accountability) Bill—aka the Hillsborough Law—was introduced to the House of Commons in 2017 by former MP Andy Burnham.

It is an important law, which aims to: set a requirement on public institutions, public servants and officials to act in the public interest and with candour and frankness; define the public law duty on them to assist courts, official inquiries and investigations; create criminal offences for the breach of certain duties; enable victims to enforce such duties; and provide public funding for victims and their relatives in certain proceedings before the courts and at official inquiries and investigations.

The need for such a Bill, based on the findings of the 2017 Bishop James Jones report, to become law has been recognised by many. In the powerful words of the Hillsborough Law Now campaign: ‘It’s time for

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