A public inquiry , also known as a tribunal of inquiry , government inquiry , or simply inquiry , is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such an inquiry differs from a royal commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more public forum and focuses on a more specific occurrence. Interested members of the public and organisations may make (written) evidential submissions, as is the case with most inquiries, and also listen to oral evidence given by other parties.
39-613: The Moriarty Tribunal , officially called the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain Payments to Politicians and Related Matters , was an Irish Tribunal of Inquiry established in 1997 into the financial affairs of politicians Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry . It has revealed significant tax evasion by these and other politicians and leading businessmen. As a consequence, the tax authorities have recovered millions of euro in settlements and penalties from many individuals. The final report of
78-651: A constitutional office-holder. In 1990, the Fair Trade Commission stated that "[w]e have recommended that the Bar Council should be the primary disciplinary body for barristers, and it does not include any members of the judiciary. The Attorney General is, however, a member of the Bar Council, and the Commission believes that it is preferable that he should not be involved when the Bar Council is exercising its disciplinary function. The Attorney General
117-541: A formal finding that the project will produce public benefit. This procedure was established by the law on expropriation enacted on 7 July 1833, which extended an earlier law enacted in 1810. A number of historically important public inquiries have taken place in South Africa since the advent of full democracy in 1994. A number of which have looked into national scale events such as systematic human rights abuses during apartheid or wide scale corruption . In
156-435: A government, and tend to lose credibility when they find no fault on the part of the government. In France, any major project which requires the compulsory acquisition of private property must, before being approved, be the subject of a public inquiry (usually by the prefect of the region or department in which the project will take place); the favourable outcome of such an inquiry is a déclaration d'utilité publique ,
195-598: A private meeting of tribunal counsel in October 2002 recalled by Denis McFadden BL and attended by, amongst others, John Gormley BL and Richard Nesbitt SC, Jerry Healy SC for the tribunal described Nesbitt's advice to the government as "shite". Following the addition of new evidence, Judge Moriarty conceded that the advice of Richard Nesbitt did cover the acquisition of a 25% shareholding by IIU and that he would reappraise his interim findings that it did not. Judge Moriarty admitted to making "not insignificant mistakes" in regards to
234-627: Is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabinet meetings when invited and attends government meetings. The current attorney general is Rossa Fanning , SC . The office and functions of the attorney general are outlined in Article 30 of
273-648: Is also a member of the Council of King's Inns, and the Commission believes it to preferable that he should not participate in any disciplinary activity pursued by that body either. Indeed, in general, we find the membership of these bodies by the Attorney General to be somewhat anomalous." The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government is the Office of the parliamentary counsel to
312-540: The Constitution of Ireland . The attorney general has always been a barrister rather than a solicitor, although this is not a requirement for the post. In cases where a barrister nominated by the Taoiseach to be the attorney general was not a senior counsel at the time, the government of the day has made them one first, as occurred in the cases of John M. Kelly and John Rogers . The attorney general advises
351-574: The Government of Ireland . It is part of the office of the Attorney General. It drafts bills which the Government intends to introduce in the Oireachtas . Although the Oireachtas as the legislature has formal authority to enact legislation, in practice the government whip rarely allows substantive amendments to bills to be made in the Dáil or Seanad ; thus the Parliamentary Counsel's role
390-773: The Irish Parliament . For example, the killing of cattle in Dublin is still regulated, in part by an Irish act of 1743, while the "Treatment of Foreign Merchants" is governed by 25 Edw. 1 Magna Carta c. 30 , an act of the Parliament of England dated 1297. The Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 provided a legislative basis for the Attorney-General of the Irish Free State ( Irish : Príomh-Atúrnae Shaorstáit Éireann ). This act provided it with:
429-562: The 1995 competition process and entered into exclusive negotiations with the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications. It transpired that during the contracting period a change in the shareholding in Esat Digifone had occurred with financier Dermot Desmond 's IIU Nominees taking a share of 25% of the company and Communicorp and Telenor AB holding the remainder between them. The Department of Communications decided that
SECTION 10
#1732776627295468-656: The 25% holding by IIU Ltd. was unacceptable in May 1996 and demanded a return to the 40-40-20 structure, but this information was not communicated to the Attorney-General's office at the time. The department and Lowry demanded that the 40:40:20 breakdown of the shares in Esat should be restored prior to the issuing of the licence, which resulted in Desmond selling part of his shareholding to Communicorp and Telenor. The licence
507-569: The Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance was enacted for establishing such a commission. The commission established after the 2012 Lamma Island ferry collision produced a report of its findings which they made public; an internal report was kept confidential. In the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests , one of the five key demands of the protesters, was establishing another commission for the protests itself. Attorney General of Ireland The attorney general of Ireland ( Irish : An tArd-Aighne )
546-678: The Haughey payments was published on 19 December 2006. The final reports were published in 2011. The Tribunal sat for the first time on 31 October 1997 and heard its first witness on 28 January 1999. By September 2004, the Tribunal had sat on 286 days but sittings were suspended pending a High Court hearing in which mobile phone entrepreneur Denis O'Brien tried unsuccessfully to prevent the tribunal from investigating Michael Lowry's involvement in his purchase of Doncaster Rovers F.C. The tribunal ended up lasting much longer than anticipated and cost
585-479: The State to a private company) by the Rainbow Coalition government was the focus of the work of the tribunal from 2007. The tribunal investigated whether money changed hands prior to the awarding of the licence to Esat Digifone by former Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications Michael Lowry TD . Denis O'Brien claimed preliminary findings by the tribunal effectively state that the Esat consortium
624-667: The State. The Office of the Attorney General is made up of different offices: Part of the attorney general's function has been to support the Statute Law Revision Programme of the Law Reform Commission , which reviews all legislation passed before independence to investigate which laws are obsolete and may be repealed, and which should be kept. This includes laws of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , Britain, England, and
663-552: The United Kingdom, the term public inquiry, also known as a tribunal of inquiry, refers to either statutory or non-statutory inquiries that have been established either previously by the monarch or by government ministers of the United Kingdom , Scottish , Northern Irish and Welsh governments to investigate either specific, controversial events or policy proposals. Non-statutory public inquiries are often used in order to investigate controversial events of national concern,
702-876: The advantage being that they are more flexible than the statutory inquiry as they do not need to follow the requirements of the Inquiries Act 2005 , The Inquiry Rules 2006 (UK, excluding Scotland) and The Inquiries (Scotland) Rules 2007. Statutory inquiries can be held as subject-specific public inquiries, however most are now held under the Inquiries Act 2005 which repealed the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 . Statutory public inquiries, unlike non-statutory inquiries, have legal powers to compel witnesses. This list excludes Public Local Inquiries (which encompasses Planning Inquiries, Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiries, Listed Building Inquiries etc.) In Hong Kong,
741-565: The branches and officers of the public services specified in the Ninth Part of the Schedule to this Act and also the administration and business generally of public services in connection with the representation of the Government of Saorstát Eireann and of the public in all legal proceedings for the enforcement of law, the punishment of offenders and the assertion or protection of public rights and all powers, duties and functions connected with
780-694: The business, powers, authorities, duties and functions formerly vested in or exercised by the Attorney-General for Ireland , the Solicitor-General for Ireland , the Attorney-General for Southern Ireland, the Solicitor-General for Southern Ireland, the Law Adviser to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and any or all of them respectively, and the administration and control of the business, powers, authorities, duties and functions of
819-492: The consortium at a later date. The advice of Nesbitt as recalled by Denis McFadden – a barrister in the A-G's office – was to the effect that IIU's entry was not a material change and merely amounted to "equity finance". In February 2008, Judge Moriarty gave a legal finding that the written advice given by Richard Nesbitt in 1996 to the Attorney General's office did not cover what is known as "the ownership issue". This finding followed
SECTION 20
#1732776627295858-446: The day typically only accedes to a fraction of these requests. The political decision whether to appoint a public inquiry into an event was found to be dependent on several factors. The first is the extent of media coverage of the event; those that receive more media interest are more likely to be inquired. Second, since the appointment of a public inquiry is typically made by government ministers, events that involve allegations of blame on
897-626: The facts and revealed monies in secret Ansbacher accounts owned by Haughey for which it could not determine the source. In response to the McCracken Report , the new Ahern Government issued terms of reference for a new follow-up tribunal on 26 September 1997. The sole member of the Tribunal is the Honourable Mr Justice Michael Moriarty , leading to the name Moriarty Tribunal. The terms were inquiry into (inter alia) : The preliminary report into
936-504: The first time. Article 59 provided that the attorney general of Saorstát Éireann before the coming into operation of the Constitution would become the attorney general on the coming into operation of the Constitution without the need for an appointment, which occurred on 29 December 1937. Until 1974, the attorney general was responsible for the prosecution of criminal offences. In 1974, the position of Director of Public Prosecutions
975-630: The government on the constitutionality of bills and treaties, and presents the government's case if the President refers any bill to the Supreme Court under Article 26 of the Constitution before signing it. The attorney general has few prosecution duties; these are limited to functions under the various Fisheries Acts and Extradition Acts. Instead, the Director of Public Prosecutions has responsibility for all other criminal prosecutions in
1014-486: The license issue which would have to be "taken on the chin and acknowledged". A media war broke out in early 2010 over the preliminary findings of the tribunal with Denis O'Brien, Michael Lowry TD and Judge Moriarty each making statements about the process. Denis O'Brien sent a letter to the chairman of the tribunal Judge Moriarty alleging that the tribunal's "activities really reaches a new low in Irish judicial history" and
1053-734: The media campaign against the tribunal claiming he was "not going to be distracted by the prevalence of spin, and other controversies...that would not be welcomed by the courts." Following the publication of the final report of the tribunal copies were sent to the Revenue Commissioners, the Garda Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions. A team of detectives, led by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) chief, DCS Eugene Corcoran, investigated if
1092-488: The part of the relevant minister are less likely to be investigated by a public inquiry. Third, a public inquiry generally takes longer to report and costs more on account of its public nature. When a government refuses a public inquiry on some topic, it is usually on at least one of these grounds. The conclusions of the inquiry are delivered in the form of a written report, given first to the government, and soon after made public. Reports usually make recommendations to improve
1131-444: The quality of government or management of public organisations in the future. A 2016 study found that the reports of public inquiries are not effective in changing public opinion regarding the event in question. Empirical studies do not find support for the claim that appointing a public inquiry leads to a decline in media attention to the inquired issue. Public inquiry reports appear to enjoy public trust only when they are critical of
1170-753: The report could identify any criminal wrongdoing that could be then investigated. Public inquiry Typical events for a public inquiry are those that cause multiple deaths, such as public transport crashes or mass murders . In addition, in the UK, the Planning Inspectorate , an agency of the Department for Communities and Local Government , routinely holds public inquiries into a range of major and lesser land use developments, including highways and other transport proposals. Advocacy groups and opposition political parties are likely to ask for public inquiries for all manner of issues. The government of
1209-584: The same respectively, together with the duty of advising the Executive Council and the several Ministers in matters of law and of legal opinion. It also transferred the following bodies to the office of the Attorney-General: The Constitution of Ireland , which came into operation on 29 December 1937, established the position of Attorney General of Ireland in Article 30, providing it with a constitutional basis for
Moriarty Tribunal - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-521: The state millions in direct costs and legal assistance to witnesses, something that has been criticised by the people whom the tribunal investigated. In March 2010, it was estimated the tribunal had cost the state approximately €39 million, with final costs expected to exceed €100 million. The circumstances surrounding the awarding of the second GSM mobile phone licence to the Esat Digifone consortium in 1996 (the biggest contract ever awarded by
1287-690: The tribunal was expected to be published in mid-January 2010, but was delayed and was published 22 March 2011. As a result of change of management in Dunnes Stores , a leading retail group in Ireland, it was revealed in the press that Ben Dunne had made substantial secret payments to the former Taoiseach Charles Haughey and Minister Michael Lowry . In response the Bruton Government established The McCracken Inquiry in 1997 to investigate. The inquiry reported in late 1997 and confirmed
1326-579: The tribunal. Lowry's claims relate principally to the involvement of financier Dermot Desmond as a 20 per cent shareholder in the Esat Digifone consortium and outlining that it was not possible for him to meddle in the process or direct a result without the collusion of civil servants. Lowry has also criticised the tribunal in the Dáil, pointing out the high costs and delay involved. Judge Moriarty has said his report will be "founded unequivocally on evidence" and not on speculation and working hypotheses and that he
1365-407: Was "illegally" issued with the state's second mobile-phone licence because he had a "corrupt" relationship with Michael Lowry. A number of failed bidders are suing the state over the handling of the competition process. In 1995, Esat Digifone was a consortium made up of Denis O'Brien 's Communicorp (40%), Telenor AB (40%) and the remaining 20% held by institutional shareholders. Esat Digifone won
1404-511: Was "totally biased" O'Brien has claimed that the tribunal had set out to "get his scalp", but "must now admit they were wrong" Denis O'Brien established the website MoriartyTribunal.com on 16 October 2009. The site was created by the O'Brien team to present his perspective on the work of the Moriarty Tribunal In January 2010 Michael Lowry TD issued a 3,400-word statement ( available here ) outlining his perspective on
1443-414: Was awarded to Digifone in May 1996, with Lowry announcing Digifone the winner before civil servants involved in judging the competition made their final decision. In May 1996, the Attorney-General's office sought the advice of barrister Richard Nesbitt regarding the change in shareholding. Nesbitt advised the government that the licence could be awarded regardless of the fact that Dermot Desmond had joined
1482-563: Was established. Local state solicitors were transferred to the Director of Public Prosecutions in 2007. Two less well-known but significant roles played by all Irish Attorneys General to date are as the "leader of the Irish Bar " and as a Bencher of the King's Inns . The acceptance by Attorneys General of these non-statutory and often secretive roles upon taking office throughout the years has been questioned and criticised as inappropriate for
1521-464: Was not "trying to cobble together a report that will unjustly condemn" people on "flimsy evidence". He was mystified as to why this "unthinkable suggestion" should be made concerning someone who had been appointed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. He had learned as a judge to be "big enough and humble enough to correct errors" but he was not saying errors had been made and important matters remained to be canvassed in evidence. Judge Moriarty also hit back at
#294705