SHEE-60 Response Historic AI-assessed

Consider appointing independent counsel to public inquiry tribunals

Recommendation

In the course of considering all the related problems, further consideration should be given to the question of appointing counsel to the tribunal, and not on behalf of the Secretary of State, so that he can be seen to be wholly independent of the Department.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
No specific published evidence has been identified regarding further consideration or changes in practice concerning the appointment of independent counsel to public inquiry tribunals, distinct from counsel appointed on behalf of the Secretary of State. General gov.uk search results for "Sheen Inquiry recommendation implementation" and "consider appointing independent" do not provide specific documents or updates related to this recommendation.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 19 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Historic

No government response recorded.

Source
Report Sheen Inquiry — Final Report 24 Jul 1987
Recommendation age 38.7 yrs
Last formal update No formal updates