Inquiries Act 2005

The Parliament of the United Kingdom's Joint Committee on Human Rights has voiced concerns about certain aspects of the Act, as have the Law Society of England and Wales. Amnesty International has asked members of the British judiciary not to serve on any inquiry held under the Act, as they contend that "any inquiry would be controlled by the executive which is empowered to block public scrutiny of state actions". The family of Pat Finucane, a solicitor killed by loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast in suspicious circumstances, announced they would not be co-operating with a forthcoming inquiry into the events surrounding his death if it was held under the terms of the Act. The Canadian judge Peter Cory, who was commissioned by the British and Irish governments to investigate the possibility of state collusion in six high-profile murders, is also a critic. He recommended public inquiries into four of the killings, but has strongly condemned the legislation that quickly followed. In a letter read at a hearing of the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations Subcommittee while the legislation was pending, Cory stated: The chairman of the hearing, Representative Chris Smith, declared that "the bill pending before the British Parliament should be named the 'Public Inquiries Cover-up Bill'." Indeed, the act repealed the entirety of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 which had allowed Parliament to vote on a resolution establishing a tribunal that had "all such powers, rights, and privileges as are vested in the High Court" and placed the power solely under the control of a Minister. == Notable inquiries ==

As of November 2021 there have been 29 inquiries established under the act with a further two announced. Of these, 17 have completed costing a total of £158m. Active inquiries Some of the highest profile, open inquiries authorised under the act include: • Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry into the British Post Office scandal - converted from an existing, non-statutory inquiry in September 2020 • Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse - converted from an existing, non-statutory inquiry in July 2015 • Infected Blood Inquiry into the Contaminated blood scandal in the United Kingdom • UK Covid-19 Inquiry into the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic Former inquires • Inquiry into failures at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust • The Litvinenko Inquiry into the Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko • Leveson Inquiry into the News International phone hacking scandal • Grenfell Tower Inquiry • Manchester Arena Inquiry into the Manchester Arena bombing Forthcoming inquiries • It was announced in August 2023 that a statutory inquiry would be held into the circumstances surrounding the killings of children carried out by Lucy Letby. • An Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs into the grooming gangs scandal was announced in June 2025, and it was announced in December 2025 that terms of reference would be confirmed no later than March 2026. ==Repeals and revokes==

The Inquiries Act 2005 repealed or revoked all or part of the following acts of Parliament or sections of acts: == See also ==