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Roger Bacon, whose son was killed in the Iraq war, says legal action may be only option to force Sir John Chilcot to publish his report
Legal action may be the only way to force Sir John Chilcot to publish his long-delayed Iraq war inquiry, according to the father of a soldier who died in the war.
Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew was killed in 2005,criticised Chilcot for failing to set a publication date and raised the threat of legal action to speed things up.
Chilcot on Wednesday strongly defended the “Maxwellisation” process in which those facing criticism are given a chance to respond, saying it was essential for fairness, accuracy and completeness.
But to the frustration of bereaved families, Chilcot did not say when the report, which is expected tocriticise a wide range of ministers, intelligence officers, Whitehall officials and senior military staff, will be published.
“He (Chilcot) has now come back and it’s as we were, that the Maxwellisation process will continue and he will publish, as he puts it, as soon as possible, but when’s that?,” Bacon told BBC Radio 4’s Todayprogramme on Thursday. “It seems to us that the only way of getting on with this is to take some kind of legal action.”
Matthew Jury, of McCue & Partners, a law firm representing some of the families, has also raised the prospect of legal action. “Sir John has refused the families’ legalrequest to impose an effective timetable on the Maxwellisation process, thereby preventing any deadline being set for publication of the report,” he said.
“In the circumstances, the families’ legal team, which includes Lord Brennan QC and Sarah Hannett of Matrix Chambers, will be taking further legal steps as are considered necessary and appropriate.”
But Crispin Blunt, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs select committee, said setting a deadline could “wreck” the inquiry. He conceded that Chilcot’s use of the word “shortly” to describe when final replies wereexpected was “a bit of an elastic term” that should be clarified, but warned against an externally imposed deadline.
“We can do that but we can wreck the inquiry in the process,” the Conservative MP told Today. “The inquiry, which is independent and sets its own procedure, has determined how it is going to conduct itself. It is without any doubt I think in the last 10% of its inquiry time, I would sincerely hope after six years.”
Sir Robert Francis QC, who led the inquiry into the Mid Staffs hospital scandal, warned those who faced criticism against being uncooperative in responding to the inquiry.
In a letter to the Times, he said: “It is clearly important for the report of the Iraq inquiry to be concluded as quickly as possible. It might be helpful if those who may becriticised were reminded that they have no right to dictate the content of the report, and are not in any event bound by any adverse judgment contained in it.
“Reports and their conclusions only retain the persuasiveness justified by their reasoning and content. They might also want to bear in mind that drawing attention to themselves by aggressive or uncooperative tactics is likely to do little to avert well-founded criticism and may even strengthen the grounds for it.”
Francis said parties to the Mid Staffs inquiry were not shown drafts of the report before its publication because he feared “it would lead to a process looking unacceptably close to a negotiation” over the report’s content.
He pointed out that he had the advantage of statutory rules governing the obligation to give those who might be the object of express or implicit criticism a fair opportunity to offer comments on them in confidence. He also had the benefit of a large team of legal advisers to help him devise and operate a workable system.
Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew was killed in 2005,
But to the frustration of bereaved families, Chilcot did not say when the report, which is expected to
“He (Chilcot) has now come back and it’s as we were, that the Maxwellisation process will continue and he will publish, as he puts it, as soon as possible, but when’s that?,” Bacon told BBC Radio 4’s Today
Matthew Jury, of McCue & Partners, a law firm representing some of the families, has also raised the prospect of legal action. “Sir John has refused the families’ legal
“In the circumstances, the families’ legal team, which includes Lord Brennan QC and Sarah Hannett of Matrix Chambers, will be taking further legal steps as are considered necessary and appropriate.”
But Crispin Blunt, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs select committee, said setting a deadline could “wreck” the inquiry. He conceded that Chilcot’s use of the word “shortly” to describe when final replies were
“We can do that
Sir Robert Francis QC, who led the inquiry into the Mid Staffs hospital scandal, warned those who faced criticism against being uncooperative in responding to the inquiry.
In a letter to the Times, he said: “It is clearly important for the report of the Iraq inquiry to be concluded as quickly as possible. It might be helpful if those who may be
“Reports and their conclusions only retain the persuasiveness justified by their reasoning and content. They might also want to bear in mind that drawing attention to themselves by aggressive or uncooperative tactics is likely to do little to avert well-founded criticism and may even strengthen the grounds for it.”
Francis said parties to the Mid Staffs inquiry were not shown drafts of the report before its publication because he feared “it would lead to a process looking unacceptably close to a negotiation” over the report’s content.
He pointed out that he had the advantage of statutory rules governing the obligation to give those who might be the object of express or implicit criticism a fair opportunity to offer comments on them in confidence. He also had the benefit of a large team of legal advisers to help him devise and operate a workable system.
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