Inquiries Act 2005

Inquiries Act 2005[1]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to make provision about the holding of inquiries.
Citation2005 c. 12
Territorial extent United Kingdom[2]
Dates
Royal assent7 April 2005
Commencement7 June 2005[3]
Other legislation
Repeals/revokesTribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 and other parts of acts
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Inquiries Act 2005 (c. 12) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. According to the explanatory notes, published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, the Act "is intended to provide a comprehensive statutory framework for inquiries set up by Ministers to look into matters of public concern".[4]

The act repealed the entirety of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921, a much shorter bill that also empowered Ministers to set up so-called statutory inquiries.[5]

The act was motivated in part by the spiraling costs of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry and a desire to control the length and cost of future inquiries.[6] The act has been criticised by a number of groups and individuals, generally concerned with the power ministers have over the remit of the inquiry and the publication of its final report.[7][8]

  1. ^ The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 53 of this Act.
  2. ^ The Inquiries Act 2005, section 52
  3. ^ The Inquiries Act 2005, section 51; the Inquiries Act 2005 (Commencement) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/1432 (C. 62)), article 2
  4. ^ Explanatory notes published by Department for Constitutional Affairs accompanying the act
  5. ^ "Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1978 c. 30
  6. ^ Ireton2014-03-27T13:02:00+00:00, Emma. "The Inquiries Act 2005 – fit for purpose?". Law Gazette. Retrieved 2 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Judges urged to boycott inquiries". The Guardian. 21 April 2005. Retrieved 2 January 2022.