header-logo header-logo

Public inquiries & product liability: mind the (accountability) gap

28 July 2023 / Sarah Moore , Stuart Warmington , Lily Parmar
Issue: 8035 / Categories: Features , Public , Inquests , Health & safety
printer mail-detail
132292
Public inquiries related to product liability do vital work but are undermined by a lack of accountability & commitment to action, as Sarah Moore, Stuart Warmington & Lily Parmar explain
  • The UK has a robust culture of instigating inquiries, but it is less clear whether their recommendations are acted upon.
  • Claimants in high-profile liability scandals often have to campaign for years.
  • Greater monitoring and reporting could help redress this accountability gap.

On 5 May 2023, the World Health Organization declared an end to the coronavirus as a ‘global health emergency’. Nevertheless, as we move into our second post-pandemic summer, COVID-19 remains omnipresent in the headlines as the public hearings for the UK’s COVID-19 inquiry get underway. This inquiry is set to be one of the biggest and most expensive in UK history. As the inquiry chair Baroness Hallett highlighted in her opening statement, its purpose is to enable the government to ‘learn lessons to inform preparations for future pandemics’.

In

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

NLJ Career Profile: Kate Gaskell, Flex Legal

Kate Gaskell, CEO of Flex Legal, reflects on chasing her childhood dreams underscores the importance of welcoming those from all backgrounds into the profession

Dorsey & Whitney—Jonathan Christy

Dorsey & Whitney—Jonathan Christy

Dispute resolution team welcomes associate in London

Winckworth Sherwood—Kevin McManamon

Winckworth Sherwood—Kevin McManamon

Special education needs and mental capacity expert joins as partner

NEWS
Overcrowded prisons, mental health hospitals and immigration centres are failing to meet international and domestic human rights standards, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) has warned
Two speedier and more streamlined qualification routes have been launched for probate and conveyancing professionals
Workplace stress was a contributing factor in almost one in eight cases before the employment tribunal last year, indicating its endemic grip on the UK workplace
In NLJ this week, Ian Smith, emeritus professor at UEA, explores major developments in employment law from the Supreme Court and appellate courts
Writing in NLJ this week, Kamran Rehman and Harriet Campbell of Penningtons Manches Cooper examine Operafund Eco-Invest SICAV plc v Spain, where the Commercial Court held that ICSID and Energy Charter Treaty awards cannot be assigned
back-to-top-scroll