Investigation System Of The British Public

Public inquiry is a pivotal part of public life in UK though there have been muchcontroversy about public inquiries. While incidents causing public concerns happened, publicinquires set up by the government intending to find out the truth, and deliver reports about thefact and make recommendations on accountability etc have played an important role inallaying public concern, restoring confidence and improving government policies.The thesis, consisting of7parts, is based on translation and research on relative laws andregulations and works of public inquiry in UK. The first part introduces the history andevolution of public inquiry and brings out controversy on the Public Inquiry Act in2005. Thesecond part is about the jurisprudence and functions of public inquiry, and compares publicinquiry with other alternatives and highlights the strength and weakness of a public inquiry.The third to the seventh part present procedures of a public inquiry set up under PublicInquiry Act in2005. The third part introduces the basis of establishing a public inquiry, whichincludes setting up the terms of references and selecting chairman and wing members etc. Theforth part is about making planning, secretarial and administrative decisions before the publicinquiry can begin the investigation, including control on timescale and budgets, riskmanagement and so on. The fifth part elaborates on individual part of a public inquiry, andexplains powers of the inquiry penal such as compelling evidence, preventing disclosure ofinformation, and rights enjoyed by the interested party or person. The sixth part introduces thelegal obligation to public the report and entails the must-haves content of a report. The lastpart is mainly about the end of a public inquiry. There is little research about the publicinquiry in China. The thesis is a systematic introduction of the history, functions andprocedures of the public inquiry, hoping to assist with establishment of such system in China.