Legg Inquiry into the Sandline Affair

The Legg Inquiry of 1998 examined the 'arms-to-Sierra Leone' affair, in which Sandline International, a private military company, supplied arms to forces supporting the deposed President Kabbah of Sierra Leone. This appeared to breach a United Nations arms embargo that the UK had helped establish. Sir Thomas Legg KCB QC conducted a rapid non-statutory inquiry, reporting within four months of establishment. The inquiry found that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had received intelligence about Sandline's activities but had not taken adequate steps to prevent the shipment or inform ministers. Legg identified failures in communication within the FCO and between the FCO and HM Customs and Excise. The inquiry made no formal recommendations. Following publication, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook faced criticism in Parliament but remained in post. The affair contributed to parliamentary debate about the regulation of private military companies, though no statutory framework followed. A 2002 Green Paper on private military companies referenced the Sandline affair, but legislative proposals did not progress. The inquiry remains significant as an example of rapid non-statutory investigation into politically sensitive matters involving foreign policy and commercial military services. Its focus on administrative processes and communications within government departments, rather than issuing recommendations for reform, distinguished it from many other public inquiries of the period.