5 Aug 2019
A core participant is a person who has played, or may have played, a direct and significant role in the subject the Inquiry relates to. They can also be a person or group that has a significant interest in the Inquiry or may be subject to significant or explicit criticism as a result of the Inquiry.
Core participants are designated by the Chairman, with their consent, and can be an individual or an organisation. In this Inquiry, there are two primary categories of core participants:
- State core participants: this includes police officers, police institutions and government.
- Non-state core participants: this includes individuals that have had relationships with undercover officers, trade union members and activists.
These categories of core participants always have different legal representatives.
Core participants have access to all of the public evidence relevant to their particular interest in the case. In many cases, core participants and other witnesses can also have their reasonable legal costs paid. There are no state core participants that have their legal costs paid by the Inquiry.
You don’t need to be a core participant to give evidence to the Inquiry.