Start Date: 16th May 2026 at 10:00 am
CPD
Inquests and Inquiries: Inquisitorial or Adversarial?
Event Details
While inquests are not intended as a means of apportioning blame, and inquiries have no power to determine any person’s civil or criminal liability, both forms of hearing have, in recent years, attracted criticism, as regards length, areas of investigation and particularly the content and style of questioning.
This full-day conference will examine the structure and workings of Inquests and Inquiries, with a particular focus on advocacy, but will also look at the experiences undergone by those who have appeared as witnesses. The House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee Report (2025) says that "ideally, public inquiries should provide catharsis to victims" and are often "the only way for victims and survivors to seek redress" - but is this ideal always achieved?
The conference aims to enable participants to obtain a better understanding of these types of hearing, and the skills required for effective advocacy in them, while providing an open forum to discuss the issues they bring up.
Confirmed speakers for the day: Lord Hughes, HHJ Mark Lucraft KC, Jason Beer KC, Stephen Simblet KC, Mrs Justice Christina Lambert, Toby Williamson, David Enright, Kate Grange KC, Jenni Richards KC, Sunyana Sharma, Thea Wilson, Sam Stein KC and Lord Arbuthnot.
Together their experience includes work on the most significant inquests and inquiries of recent years, including the Hillsborough, Infected Blood, Westminster Bridge, London Bridge and Fishmongers' Hall Inquests, and the Grenfell, COVID-19, Dawn Sturgess, Hutton, Leveson and Post Office Horizon Inquiries.
The full programme for the day can be viewed by clicking here.
The session includes lunch and will conclude with a drinks reception.
today
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End Date: 16th May 2026 at 4:15 pm
place
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple
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£60.00
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