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Inquiries Act 2005

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

Please note:

All reference to 'Parts' and 'sections' are from the Inquiries Act 2005. For other versions of these Explanatory Notes, see More Resources.

  1. Introduction

  2. Overview

    1. Constitution of inquiry

    2. Conversion of inquiries

    3. Inquiry proceedings

    4. Inquiry reports

    5. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

    6. Inquiries for which more than one Minister responsible

    7. Supplementary

    8. General

    9. Amendments etc

    10. Final provisions

  3. Territorial Extent

  4. Commentary on Sections

    1. Constitution of Inquiry

      1. Section 1: Power to establish inquiry

      2. Section 2: No determination of liability

      3. Section 3: The inquiry panel

      4. Section 4: Appointment of inquiry panel

      5. Section 5: Setting-up date and terms of reference

      6. Section 6: Minister’s duty to inform Parliament or Assembly

      7. Section 7: Further appointments to inquiry panel

      8. Section 8: Suitability of inquiry panel

      9. Section 9: Requirement of impartiality

      10. Section 10: Appointment of judge as a panel member

      11. Section 11: Assessors

      12. Section 12: Duration of appointment of members of inquiry panel

      13. Section 13: Power to suspend inquiry

      14. Section 14: End of inquiry

  5. Conversion of Inquiries

    1. Section 15: Power to convert other inquiry into inquiry under this Act

    2. Section 16: Inquiries converted under section 15

  6. Inquiry Proceedings

    1. Section 17: Evidence and procedure

    2. Section 18: Public access to inquiry proceedings and information

    3. Sections 19 & 20: Restrictions on public access etc; Further provisions about restriction notices and orders

    4. Section 21: Powers of chairman to require production of evidence etc

    5. Section 22: Privileged information etc

    6. Section 23: Risk of damage to the economy

  7. Inquiry Reports

    1. Section 24: Submission of reports

    2. Section 25: Publication of reports

    3. Section 26: Laying of reports before Parliament or Assembly

  8. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

    1. Section 27: United Kingdom inquiries

    2. Section 28: Scottish inquiries

    3. Section 29: Welsh inquiries

    4. Section 30: Northern Ireland inquiries

    5. Section 31: The relevant part of the United Kingdom and the applicable rules

  9. Inquiries for Which More Than One Minister Responsible

    1. Section 32: Joint inquiries

    2. Section 33: Inquiries involving more than one jurisdiction

    3. Section 34: Change of responsibility for inquiry

  10. Supplementary

    1. Section 35: Offences

    2. Section 36: Enforcement by High Court or Court of Session

    3. Section 37: Immunity from suit

    4. Section 38: Time limit for applying for judicial review

    5. Section 39: Payment of inquiry expenses by Minister

    6. Section 40: Expenses of witnesses etc

  11. General

    1. Section 41: Rules

    2. Section 42: Notices

    3. Section 43: Interpretation

    4. Section 44: Transitory, transitional and saving provisions

    5. Section 45: Suspension of devolved government in Northern Ireland

  12. Amendments Etc

    1. Section 46: Inquiries under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000

    2. Section 47: Inquiries etc under Northern Ireland legislation

    3. Section 48: Minor and consequential amendments

    4. Section 49: Repeals and revocations

  13. Final Provisions

    1. Section 50: Crown application

    2. Section 51: Commencement

    3. Section 52: Extent

    4. Section 53: Short title

  14. Commencement

  15. Hansard References

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

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Explanatory Notes

Text created by the government department responsible for the subject matter of the Act to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts except Appropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and Consolidation Acts.

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