Inquiry granted leave to intervene in judicial review

The Chair of the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry has been granted leave to intervene in the claim for judicial review brought by the Cabinet Office against the Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry relating to the recovery of documents. The Court’s decision in this case may have significant implications for the conduct of the Scottish Inquiry and may impact its ability to fulfil effectively its Terms of Reference.

The Scottish Inquiry’s primary submission will be that the interpretation of ‘relate to’ for the purposes of section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005 - which sets out the Chair’s powers to require the production of evidence that relates to a matter in question - cannot have a different meaning in different parts of the UK. The Inquiry’s position is that the interpretation of ‘relate to’ in this context needs to be consistent across the jurisdictions of the UK.