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Making Public Inquiries Transformative

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UTRECHT UNIVERSITY European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation A.Y. 2019/2020 Making public inquiries transformative A human rights analysis of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Author: Tom Hennessey Supervisor: Dr Brianne McGonigle Leyh Abstract Public inquiries in the United Kingdom are fact-finding mechanisms which fit within the truth pillar of transitional justice. Despite their many strengths, their legalistic nature means that (i) they tend to have carefully bounded, technocratic terms of reference which do not often extend to economic, social and cultural issues, and (ii) they offer limited opportunities for victims and survivors to participate. These same concerns, identified in the broader field of transitional justice, have led to the emerging theory of transformative justice. This approach focuses on the lived experiences of victims and survivors, encouraging their participation and addressing the structural violence they face. This thesis posits that adopting a transformative approach, in appropriate cases, would improve the outcomes of public inquiries, by making their analysis and recommendations better informed and more comprehensive, and enabling victims and survivors to contribute fully to their work. Using the ongoing Grenfell Tower Inquiry as a case study, the thesis applies a socio-legal approach to assess a public inquiry for the first time against the analytical framework provided by transformative justice. It finds that, due to the exclusion of economic, social and cultural issues from its mandate, and the limitations of its engagement with victims and survivors, the Inquiry’s work cannot be described as transformative. This has a number of consequences, including the maintenance of forms of structural violence which will continue to affect the lives of victims and survivors, and which could contribute towards future disasters. Acknowledgements With thanks to Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh for her supervision. In writing this thesis, my thoughts have been with Logan Gomes, who was stillborn on the night of the fire after his mother escaped from Grenfell Tower. May we find it in ourselves to act on the sickening unfairness of his life being stolen from him before it had even begun. 2 Table of abbreviations CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979) CERD Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969) CP Civil and political CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008) ECHR European Convention on Human Rights (1953) ECtHR European Court of Human Rights EHCR Equality and Human Rights Commission (the UK’s national Human Rights Institution) ESC Economic, social and cultural ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) KCTMO Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Association MP Member of Parliament RBKC Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea SATRC South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission TMO Tenant Management Association 3 Table of contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................6 1. Transitional to transformational justice .............................................................................. 11 1.1 Transitional justice........................................................................................................... 12 1.1.1 Theories of transitional justice ................................................................................... 12 1.1.1.1 Retributive justice ............................................................................................... 12 1.1.1.2 Restorative justice ............................................................................................... 13 1.1.1.3 Reparative justice ................................................................................................ 13 1.1.2 Criticisms of transitional justice ................................................................................ 14 1.1.2.1 Neglect of ESC rights and structural violence ..................................................... 15 1.1.2.2 Participation of victims and survivors ................................................................. 20 1.2 Transformative justice ..................................................................................................... 21 2. Truth seeking ........................................................................................................................ 25 2.1 Truth seeking mechanisms ............................................................................................... 25 2.2 Public inquiries ................................................................................................................ 26 2.2.1 Purposes .................................................................................................................... 28 2.2.1.1 Providing accountability ................................................................................. 28 2.2.1.2 Preventing reoccurrence ................................................................................. 28 2.2.1.3 Restoring public confidence ........................................................................... 29 2.2.1.4 Fulfilling legal obligations.............................................................................. 29 2.2.1.5 Performing political functions ........................................................................ 31 2.2.2 Criticisms of inquiries ............................................................................................... 31 3. Case Study: The Grenfell Tower Inquiry ............................................................................... 42 3.1 Appointment of chair and panel ....................................................................................... 43 3.2 Terms of reference ........................................................................................................... 48 4 3.2.1 International human rights law .................................................................................. 55 3.2.1.1 The right to life ................................................................................................... 55 3.2.1.2 The right to adequate housing ............................................................................. 56 3.2.1.3 Equality and discrimination ................................................................................. 58 3.2.1.4 The Inquiry’s human rights blindness .................................................................. 59 3.2.2 The experiences of victims and survivors .................................................................. 60 3.2.2.1 Poverty and class ................................................................................................ 60 3.2.2.2 Race and ethnicity ............................................................................................... 62 3.2.2.3. Complaints before the fire .................................................................................. 63 3.2.2.4 The national picture ............................................................................................ 64 3.2.3 The Chair’s proposal for parallel process ................................................................... 68 3.3 Participation of victims and survivors .............................................................................. 70 3.4 Analysis of case study ...................................................................................................... 77 3.4.1 Neglect of ESC rights and structural violence ............................................................ 77 3.4.2 Participation of victims and survivors ........................................................................ 83 4. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................... 88 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 92 5 Introduction In the early hours of 14 June 2017, an electrical fault in a fridge-freezer in Grenfell Tower,1 a residential building containing 129 apartments in West London,2 caused a kitchen fire which quickly spread to engulf the 24-story building3. Seventy-two people died, and many more injured or displaced.4 It was the worst loss of life in a residential fire in the United Kingdom in a century.5 Perhaps the sheer horror can only begin to be understood from the accounts of victims and survivors, like that of one man who escaped by running down the single stairway from the 15th floor: I could feel myself tripping over in the dark. I was tripping over bodies. On one of the floors I tripped badly and fell, as I looked up I saw the face of a dead man.6 There have been a number of responses to the fire from the state, including coroner’s inquests into the deaths and a substantial police investigation. However, the most prominent response has been the establishment of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, which serves as the case study for this thesis. The Inquiry is assessed against the theoretical framework provided by the emerging field of transformative justice. The field of transitional justice focuses on societies emerging from events of great social trauma, such as conflict and widespread human rights abuses.
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