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21 July 2023 / Richard Scorer
Issue: 8034 / Categories: Opinion , Public , Inquests
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Public inquiries: front-line evidence

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Public inquiries are most effective when their scrutiny goes below the surface, writes Richard Scorer

In recent years, a number of high-profile public inquiries have investigated serious failings by corporate bodies. To take four examples, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) sat between 2014 and 2022 and investigated responses to child sexual abuse by institutions in England and Wales. The Manchester Arena bombing inquiry sat between 2019 and 2023 and investigated multiple failures by various agencies, including police and security services. The Grenfell Tower inquiry, which has investigated multiple failings by corporate bodies, has been sitting since 2017. The COVID-19 inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett, commenced work last year and recently began hearings into the political response to the pandemic.

Public inquiries like these have the potential to achieve real change by improving responses to adverse events in the future, but only if the evidence of what went wrong is properly uncovered and scrutinised. Corporate bodies will inevitably seek to rebut criticism and justify actions taken. Evidence

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A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
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