Interest in public inquiries has peaked recently in the UK with the Leveson inquiry into press standards, the parliamentary inquiry into banking standards, and the G4S public inquiry all hitting the headlines. Lord Woolf will now co-chair an investigation into whether ADR has a role to play in such investigations. The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) has recently conducted research which highlighted low public satisfaction with the public inquiry process (around 75% of those canvassed lacked confidence in them, and the same number confessed to understanding little about them). They are an expensive public cost which are often perceived to reach the wrong result. It is hoped that Lord Woolf's inquiry will address changes needed to the commissioning and management of inquiries, as well as the enforcement of inquiry decisions.
