Recommendations - First stage
Public notice
The Robert Hamill Inquiry invites interested organisations and individuals to propose any matters which may be the subject of recommendations.
This stage is to close on Tuesday 1 June 2010. Suggestions received after this date are unlikely to be considered.
The process
The terms of reference of the Robert Hamill Inquiry call for it to make recommendations. These may relate to any matters which have arisen during the course of the Inquiry.
The consideration of recommendations will take place in three stages:
- Stage 1: Inviting proposals from interested organisations and individuals on any matter arising during the course of the Inquiry which may usefully be the subject of recommendation;
- Stage 2: Consulting on those matters which have been proposed for the purpose of identifying which recommendations can usefully be made;
- Stage 3: Formulating final recommendations and identifying lessons learnt.
The following broad areas have already been put forward:
Initiating an Inquiry
1. Central point of reference for calls for an Inquiry
2. Independent or central body to decide if an Inquiry should be established
3. Central sponsoring department
4. Who should decide the format of the Inquiry
Inquiry Processes
5. Setting the terms of reference
6. The Inquiries Act 2005 and the Inquiry Rules 2006
7. Article 2 compliance
8. Treatment of Public Interest Immunity
9. Requests for disclosure of documents
10. Procedure for the questioning of witnesses by legal representatives
Treatment of Witnesses
11. Interview process
12. Legal assistance and representation
13. Anonymity
14. Giving of oral evidence
15. Witness handling by Inquiry witness team
16. Publication of oral testimony of witnesses on Inquiry website
Coroners Service for Northern Ireland
17. Possible extension of powers to act as a form of public Inquiry
18. Powers of compulsion
19. Powers to recommend an Inquiry
Forensic Science Northern Ireland - FSNI
20. Communications with police
21. Funding
Non Governmental Organisations
22. Involvement with terms of reference
23. Observer status
24. Giving of evidence
Public Prosecution Service Northern Ireland – PPSNI
25. Counsel interviewing witnesses
26. Oversight – for example by the Attorney General or Police Ombudsman’s Office for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland State Pathologist’s Department
28. A need for more neuropathologists
29. Communications with police/prosecutors
30. Disclosure of defence expert report
Police Service of Northern Ireland - PSNI
31. Recommendations identified by the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland in its report published in 1999 [the ‘Patten report’] but not already dealt with
32. Matters not identified by the above report but which should be covered by the Inquiry’s recommendations
Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland - PONI
33. Any flaws inherent in the Independent Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC) which have not been dealt with by its replacement with PONI
34. Any matters in PONI system upon which recommendations could be made
Please note that the Inquiry Panel cannot undertake that it will make recommendations on every subject that is raised, but it will give reasonable consideration to them.
What to do now
Responses should be sent to the Inquiry as follows:
By email to: [email protected]
By post to:
The Robert Hamill Inquiry
PO Box 50156
LONDON
SW1E 6WX
Telephone: 020 7976 0473
Fax: 020 7222 9297