The legal duty would oblige ministers, government departments and advisers to have a “duty of candour” towards the forthcoming public inquiry into how and why more than 150,000 people have died in the pandemic. Mr Justice William Davis ruled that as it was not a statutory public inquiry, at which evidence is given on oath, it was not a “course of public justice” that could be perverted. He was outnumbered by barristers for South Yorkshire police, Sheffield city council, South Yorkshire Metropolitan ambulance service and other public and police organisations. “Families bereaved by Covid-19 are terrified at the prospect of having to wait decades for answers like those who lost loved ones at Hillsborough and we support their call entirely,” Goodman said. This is why Hillsborough law is so needed, to address both the duty of candour and equality of arms and remove the cloak of protection.”

Source: The Guardian May 28, 2021 04:52 UTC