Public inquiries regularly feature in the news. Grenfell, grooming gangs, the infected blood scandal, Hillsborough, Covid, and the Post Office scandal have all dominated headlines in recent years. These inquiries can drag on for years, cost millions, and often result in findings that are never fully implemented.

In an article for Candis magazine, Sinéad Lester explains that the most surprising thing to many people is that public inquiries cannot determine criminal or civil guilt. Instead, their main purpose is to identify lessons to prevent similar events from happening again.