A draft bill to ensure public officials act with “candour” and do not fall prey to “institutional defensiveness” is being launched on Thursday by relatives of the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough stadium tragedy.

The proposed legislation, supported by their lawyers and many MPs, draws on lessons learnt by the families during the protracted second inquest into those 96 deaths.



That two-year-long hearing concluded the fans had been unlawfully killed after damning evidence was given of failures by South Yorkshire police, the ambulance service and the football club.

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Lawyers for the victims believe proceedings were rendered unnecessarily complex and lengthy because police, including the former chief constable of South Yorkshire police, David Crompton, and other officials approached the inquests in a defensive manner aimed at minimising their responsibility.

In the aftermath of the inquest, the families called for new laws preventing public authorities and officials from acting in their own institutional defence when it is against the public interest.

Their lawyers, including the barristers Pete Weatherby QC and Michael Mansfield QC, have now drafted a Hillsborough Law, entitled the public authority accountability bill, which has already been referred to the inquiry led by Bishop James Jones, the former Anglican bishop of Liverpool, who is drawing up a report on the experiences of the families.

Published on Thursday, the draft bill attempts to codify a duty of candour which should apply to all public authorities, officials and civil servants. If enacted it would criminalise officials who mislead the general public or media “intentionally or recklessly”. Those who mislead court proceedings or inquiries or fail to provide witness statements could also be prosecuted.

The bill’s opening section states: “Public authorities and public servants and officials shall at all times act within their powers: (a) in the public interest, (b) with transparency, candour and frankness.

“Public authorities, public servants and officials shall be under a duty to assist court proceedings, official inquiries and investigations: relating to their own activities, or where their acts or omissions are or may be relevant.”

The proposed law draws on developments in other inquiries and international legal advances. The Mid-Staffs NHS Foundation Inquiry, known as the Francis Inquiry, in 2013 also recommended a statutory duty of candour with criminal sanctions for professionals and managers who mislead the public. That duty of candour has now been adopted within the NHS.

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A recent report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission about deaths among detained adults with mental health conditions recommended that a duty of candour similar to the NHS regulations be extended to prisons, police stations and mental health institutions.

Pete Weatherby QC, one of the authors of the draft bill, said: “There was a problem of pervasive institutional defensiveness, a culture of denial [during the inquest]. A duty of candour would allow the bereaved and other citizens to cut through the difficulty of the law.” He added it would also “empower ordinary, decent public officials” to give evidence and prevent “cover-ups”.

The Hillsborough Law website says: “The families of those who died in the Hillsborough disaster have spent 27 years fighting not only for justice for their loved ones, but so that what happened to them can never happen again. The recent Hillsborough inquests made it all too clear that not enough has changed when it comes to public institutions acting in the public interest. It is past time to put that right.”

By coincidence, earlier this week, the Law Commission put out to consultation proposals to reform the offence of misconduct in public office.

It admitted that the law “governing misconduct in public office is unclear, ambiguous and in need of reform”. The Law Commission suggests that a new, clear statutory offence would remove ambiguity.