Introductory description

Many national constitutions provide for a power to hold investigations into matters of concern. Many countries in fact hold such investigations, whether or not their constitutions expressly provide for this, as do supranational entities (such as the European Parliament) and international bodies (such as the United Nations). This module considers the role of public inquiries in a society, predominantly that of the United Kingdom, contextualised by comparative practice in other countries.

Lectures will outline the long history of public inquiries in the United Kingdom, dating since Domesday Book, and their spread through the former British Empire. Perhaps the most famous public inquiry ever took place in South Africa, in the form of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In workshops, we will discuss reasons why inquiries have come to prominence and what international practice can teach us about public inquiries.

In December 2025, The Times reported that there were more inquiries in the UK than ever before “costing the taxpayer at least £554,000 per day”. Whilst inquiries’ costs are often cited by the media, it is less well understood that holding public inquiries correlates positively with indicia for democracy, both quantitative and qualitative. Are inquiries expensive wastes of time, or essential to a functioning democracy? How can they be designed to maximise their value? How are they similar to, or different from, traditional political accountability mechanisms and court-based adjudication? All these important questions will form the basis of ongoing discussion through workshops and lectures, and over the course of a term, we will consider what functions public inquiries play in our society.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This module considers the role of public inquiries in a society, across two lectures and seven workshops. The workshops will consider the core functions that inquiries play in society, while the first week and last week of term feature lectures. The first week of term comprises an introductory lecture on the history of public inquiries, setting the UK in an international context. The final week of term consists in a conclusory lecture on how we should evaluate public inquiries.

The following topics are indicative of what will be covered in the workshops relating to the functions served by public inquiries: (1) facilitating public participation in matters of national or international concern, (2) learning lessons for the future / informing government policy, (3) establishing truth and sense-making, (4) accountability and retribution, (4) righting historic injustices / compensation, (5) catharsis and forms of justice that are alternatives to court-based adjudication (e.g. transitional or transformative justice), (5) fulfilling the State's investigative duties under Arts 2, 3, 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights, (6) providing opportunities for direct democracy and knowledge democracy in an era of declining representative democracy, (7) restoring or increasing public trust.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Articulate different functions pursued by public inquiries
• Explain relationships between inquiry design and the function(s) pursued
• Evaluate outcomes of public inquiries
• Compare inquiries to court proceedings and critically appraise justice and political accountability models beyond court-based adjudication.
• Show understanding of how the matters which inquiries investigate are shaped by systems and also how organisational responses to inquiries are affected by systems.
• Orally explain and justify their approach to a written coursework

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Research element

Students will be encouraged to undertake further reading on topics of interest, in particular when completing the summative assignment. It will not be mandatory to conduct further research, but students are more likely to score highly if this is done.

Interdisciplinary

As the title of the module indicates, the discussion focuses on public inquiries in society and is of interest to students of law, politics, philosophy, social sciences and beyond. This is reflected in the reading list, which features works from different fields including socio-legal frameworks, legal history, legal philosophy, comparative law and organisational studies. The focus of the teaching will satisfy those of both a theoretical and practical bent. The intention is for the module to be co-taught between the Warwick Schools of Law and Medicine, though this cannot be guaranteed and is subject to staff availability.

International

The taught content and reading matter incorporates a comparative law element. Public inquiries are an international subject in so far as the object of study is a feature in many different jurisdictions. Students are therefore able to use examples from any legal system in their arguments.

Subject specific skills

Students will equip themselves with skills of critical thinking and information literacy in respect of public inquiries specifically when they demonstrate the following module objectives:

• Articulating different functions pursued by public inquiries;
• Comparing inquiries to court proceedings and critically appraise justice models beyond court-based adjudication, appraise political accountability models.

In addition, students will build creative problem-solving skills when engaging with the following learning objectives:

• Explaining the relationship between inquiry design and the function(s) pursued by the inquiry;
• Evaluating the outcomes of public inquiries;
• Showing understanding of how the matters which inquiries investigate are shaped by systems and also how organisational responses to inquiries are affected by systems.

Although these are module-specific objectives, the module is interdisciplinary and will therefore benefit students in building these skills regardless of subject.

Transferable skills

Whilst the above-mentioned skills of creative problem-solving, critical thinking and information literacy are in principle transferrable, students will solidify transferrable skills of communication in addition. Specifically, students will build their confidence in oral presentation skills and written analytical skills. The assessment includes both an oral and written component.

They will also gain intercultural awareness through study of comparative jurisdictions, the discussion of the contribution of the Global South to international inquiry practice, and the focus on impact of Empire.